Messages

by GRINtelligencer

SlightAU So supposing Lykouleon had an answering machine. What sort of messages would be on it by the end of the series? Rath takes a look. Series Spoilers Galore.

Messages

Dane Soar

Rating: K+

Summery: SlightAU So supposing Lykouleon had an answering machine. What sort of messages would be on it by the end of the series? Rath takes a look. Series Spoilers Galore.

Characters/Pairings: Everybody I think, or just about

Comments: This turned into almost a summery of the story! Not everything is mentioned of course, but anything that was important enough to merit all call is. Some guesswork was involved, especially toward the end of the story when things get hectic.

Enjoy and please review.

Spoilers: Books 1-26. Pretty much everything.

Focus: An answering machine.

--

The new Lord of the entire Dragon Clan and the kingdoms they ruled over had a really bad headache. The recent crisis was over, finally, and things had returned to about as normal as they were about to get with so many people gone.

Rath was in the office that had belonged to Lord Lykouleon, sitting behind the desk and staring grumpily at the mounds of paperwork. Morbidly he wondered if Alfeegi had been the one to put all those papers there.

Alfeegi who he had killed…

For some reason, Rath suddenly doesn't feel like sifting through that particular paperwork anymore.

It was then that he noticed the blinking light on his desk in a cave formed by two half collapsed piles of paper. After shifting them, Rath uncovered an answering machine. It looked like it had been buried for a while.

He pushed the button warily.

There was a whirr as the tape rewound and then a recorded voice played.

"You have seventy-eight messages. First message."

Rune's voice issued from the speaker, sounding forlorn. "Um… Milord? We kind of…lost Nadil's head." A brief pause. "Please forgive me! We're going to do everything we can to get it back, I assure you!"

"End of first message. Second message."

"Lord Lykouleon, this is Cesia, I have the head and am almost at the castle. Surprisingly, it wasn't as hard as you told me it would be to get it from the Knights."

"End of second message. Third message."

"Under no circumstances, milord, will you allow Rath a new sword until he fills out the proper paperwork for the one he broke." Alfeegi's voice had that tone that brooked no argument. Even Lord Lykouleon never argued with the White Dragon Officer when he got that voice.

"End of third message. Fourth message."

"Lord, this is Cesia. A demon I knew a while ago, Bierrez, well, he can get through the barrier you have up to keep the demons out. I don't know how. He just finished trying to kidnap me but ran off when reinforcements came up. He'll be back though. And the worst part is, Rath knows this!"

"End of fourth message. Fifth message."

Alfeegi did not sound amused. "I told you, milord, not to let Rath have a sword! And I found something odd when I was letting him pick out a sword from the armory, but I don't think it's important. Oh, and Rath chose the Dragon Sword! There's no way he can use that, what is Fire supposed to do? Could you talk him out of it?"

"End of fifth message. Sixth message."

"This is Kai-Stern, I've finished up my work and Zulebiggia for now, but there's been some funny rumors about a haunted cave nearby. I'll deal with it. First though, I need a drink or two. Or maybe seven. Those Zulebiggians really irritate me."

"End of sixth message. Seventh message."

"Lord Lykouleon, this is Rune, there are demons in the castle! Thatz has been hurt, but we're just managing to hold them back. I think this might mean Bierrez is back again! Please send someone to protect Cesia so he can't get at her…and don't send Rath!"

"End of seventh message. Eighth message."

"This is Kai-stern, I'm just calling to tell you I'm back in the Castle. Strangely enough, everyone's giving me odd looks. Almost pitying. I asked Ruwalk about it and he muttered something about Alfeegi… I'm trying to remember what I've done lately to make him angry."

"End of eighth message. Ninth message."

"I am back, Lord Lykouleon. I will give my report in as soon as possible." Tetheus was a man of few words.

"End of ninth message. Tenth message."

"Um…Milord? This is Cesia talking, everyone's asleep, is something wrong?"

"End of tenth message. Eleventh message."

"Rath here, Bierrez won't be bothering us anymore. Got any other demons for me to kill?"

"End of eleventh message. Twelfth message."

"Hiya, Lord Lykouleon! This is Kitchel here to tell you that we've gotten the map for the three treasures put together and are heading out to get them. What's that Thatz? Oh, Thatz wants to know how he got tricked into going with me. I'll call again when I have more news. Bye!"

"End of twelfth message. Thirteenth message."

"It's Thatz. Kitchel and I got spilt up as we were getting the three treasures. She was the only one who managed to get into the cave before I had to seal it. Guess I'll head back to Draqueen."

"End of thirteenth message. Fourteenth message."

"Lord Lykouleon, I've managed to seal Varawoo the demon fish," Rune sounded tired, bit happy. "and I found Tintlet too. Also I met a rather strange human who reminded me of Rath, but that's not important. I'm heading back to Draqueen now."

"End of fourteenth message. Fifthteenth message."

"This is Cesia. I'm afraid Rath and I have wandered a little off course going to Mt. Mfartha. He keeps haring off to kill demons! Don't worry though, we'll get to Mt Mfartha… eventually."

"End of fifthteenth message. Sixteenth message."

"Kai-stern talking, and the thing that I'm looking for, I've gotten a lead, I think it's near Mt. Mfartha. I'm heading there now. Wasn't Rath going that way?"

"End of Sixteenth message. Seventeenth message."

Tetheus' voice played next. "Lord Lykouleon, I was investigating a report of singing coming from a cave when I ran into the thief you sent to get the three treasures. She has been trapped in an alternate dimension so there was little I could do to help her. Once she finds the way out she says that she will head back to the castle." It was probably among the longer paragraphs you would ever hear from Tetheus.

"End of Seventeenth message. Nineteenth message."

"Cesia calling in, Lord Lykouleon. Both Rath and I have finally managed to make it to Mt. Mfartha. Oh, and Kai-stern's here too. We're staying at an inn. There's a demon guarding the entrance and it cut up Kai-stern pretty good, but he'll be okay—though not if he keeps eating Rath's cooking. We're going to try to get past the demon once Kai-stern heals up some."

"End of nineteenth message. Twentieth message."

"Kai-stern here. That mission I was sent out on…I'm sorry but… I've failed. The wind dragon is dead, and the wind knight was Nadil. I'm sorry. Rath dealt with the mountain guardian and we're coming back." Never had the Blue Dragon Officer sounded so defeated.

"End of twentieth message. Twenty-first message."

"Kai-stern again. I've got more bad news. Rath had been hit with some Revival Water but he disappeared before I could do anything about it. I'm not sure what affect it had on him. Cesia and I will come back to the Castle, but I'm not sure if Rath will."

"End of Twenty-first message. Twenty-second message."

"…. Alfeegi here. I've… been stabbed by Rath…it's not good…he's not himself anymore… could you send…someone over here? …and find Rune, he'll be…in danger if there are demons in…the castle…Kai-stern too…I think…there's something… wrong with… hi…m…"

"End of twenty-second message. Twenty-third message."

"My Lord? This is Rune, something's wrong with Rath…." There was a cut off, and then Rune screamed.

"End of twenty-third message. Twenty-fourth message."

Tetheus this time, with the sound of rain in the background. "There are demons in the castle. I'm going to deal with it."

"End of twenty-fourth message. Twenty-fifth message."

"Alfeegi again. About the being wounded thing…never mind about it anymore. Oh and tell Ruwalk that it's not his fault; by the time he got here, it was really too late anyway. And try to find a good replacement for me, I'd suggest Rune, but he's a Knight now that I think of it, so that wouldn't work." a pause. "Well then, I have to go, Milord. Goodbye."

"End of twenty-fifth message. Twenty-sixth message."

A long pause with the sounds of fighting in the background.

Rath was kind of surprised that there were anymore after those, things had happened so fast. Everyone had been very busy suddenly. After that point the war had really started.

"End of twenty-sixth message. Twenty-seventh message."

"At last! Kitchel talking here, along with my little buddy Ringleys. We're finally out of the cave!! It's just…we don't know were we are."

"End of twenty-seventh message. Twenty-eighth message."

"This is Ruwalk. The Knights want to go and rescue Cesia, even though she's in Kainaldia and no doubt being held by Nadil. …I refused them at first, but I'm going to let them go. I think it's the only chance we have of getting her back, and if we don't, I don't think Rath can go on. Tetheus suggested they find a demon called Saabel and use his power to get there. They will no doubt leave as soon as I let them. I just hope I made the right call."

"End of twenty-eighth message. Twenty-ninth message."

"Kitchel reporting for duty! Or something like that. Ringleys and I are still lost. We ran into this weird guy called Saabel that was really annoying, he talked too much. Anyway we got away from him and all his freaky corpse doll things and are trying to get back to somewhere we recognize. It might take a while."

"End of twenty-ninth message. Thirtieth message."

"Err…Thatz talking. In a town not far from Draqueen we met a girl we knew from the trip to get Nadil's head back. She and her cousin run an inn here, but the townsfolk seemed to be keeping out of sight. Now we know that they're all dead. Pyore's— that's the girl— cousin Koun Sheena we found out had been turn mostly into a demon then killed by Saabel. We got there in time to save Pyore but Koun Sheena had been dead for while. Then Saabel stole Water! Rath went to get him back. He's got this little buddy of Saabel's to use and I'm coming back with Pyore just to make sure she'll be all right. Man that was a lot to explain all at once. I'm surprised I didn't run out of…" The message cut off as Thatz ran out of time.

"End of thirtieth message. Thirty-first message."

"Rath here. I got Water back, but Saabel's still alive I think. But that means I get to fight him again so it's okay. When he tried to run away he ended up taking us with him, Rune says that this must be Kainaldia. Does that mean I get to kill more demons?"

"End of thirty-second message. Thirty-third message."

"Thatz talking here, we're kind of…lost."

"End of Thirty-third message. Thirty-fourth message."

"…um…err…Lord Lykouleon, this is Zoma. Uh hi. Cesia left her Staff here and I think she'll need it. If I pass through the mirrors I might be able to get to her. Sorry for not telling the Knights about this but I can't take anyone with me when I go."

"End of thirty-fourth message. Thirty-fifth message."

"Your Highness, Rune here. We found a strange broken monument with what appeared to be Tintlet laying under it. Then another Tintlet showed up claiming that the first was a clone. Then something swallowed the three of us, but Rath and Thatz weren't taken. A demon called Lim Kanna separated Tintelt mind, body, and soul and put her body under that monument as bait. She tried to use her threads to take Varawoo's power but luckily she couldn't. She still has Tintelt's memories, though, and I think she'll be back."

"End of thirty-fifth message. Thirty-fourth message."

"Hiya! Kitchel calling you! I ran into Zoma and he had this weird little ball with a lady inside. When Ringleys saw it he started freaking out, saying that it was the soul of someone called Tintlet. Does that mean anything to you? Ringleys also says that if Rune is still in Draqueen you should tell him about her. Anyway, we're going to find Cesia and give this thing Zoma has to her."

"End of thirty-fourth message. Thirty-fifth message."

The voice again was Kitchel's, but this time it had an undertone of worry. "We've got problems! I found Rune and now Tintlet's got a body and a soul. Still no memories though. But that's not the problem! The problem is that these demons showed up and took Rune! One was all fiery and the other was this annoying girl with threads. I don't have any idea what to do! Zoma and Ringleys are gone, I think their lost, so it's just me and Tintelt and we can't do anything. You have to contact Rath and Thatz and tell them what happened to Rune!"

"End of thirty-fifth message. Thirty-sixth message."

"Thatz here. We picked up Zoma and Ringleys and got pretty close to Nadil's Castle. But there was this weird mist around it that we couldn't get through 'til this girl, who was apparently was dead took us through. Rath says he knew her, but he forgot. Of course. This is Rath we are talking about. Anyway, so now we're in the Castle, so I thought you'd want to know that we did make some progress. Oh yeah, and we saw Rune being taken into Nadil's Castle, did something happen to him?"

"End of thirty-sixth message. Thirty-seventh message."

"…Lord Lykouleon…this is Rune. I've managed to get out of captivity but…the demon who helped me has been hurt…I'm wounded too…if you can contact Thatz and Rath…get them here…I'm in Nadil's Castle…and…tell them to hurry…"

"End of thirty-seventh message. Thirty-eighth message."

Without even bothering to waste the words to introduce himself, Tetheus spoke. "There was a demon in Draqueen and I went to deal with it. He claims to called Saabel. He was strong enough to get away from me. I sent some Dragon Fighters to tail him. The situation is nothing to worry about."

"End of thirty-eighth message. Thirty-ninth message."

"All right, Kitchel calling in. For a little while we were all together here, but it didn't last long. I went after the thread girl, Lim Kaana, who's not a demon now apparently. Tintlet is with me, Zoma and Ringleys too, which means the Knights are alone now. I'm kind of worried about that."

"End of thirty-ninth message. Fortieth message."

"Uh…Dragon Lord? This is Zoma. I'm heading off to find Cesia to give her the Wind Staff. Kitchel and the others are heading off to find a desert and something called the Water of Chance. This creature that looked something like Crewger lead me to the mirror. I think Cesia is behind it…. whoa!" and a cut off.

"End of fortieth message. Forty-first message."

"Thatz here. Again. We fought Nadil and lost pretty badly. Rath got hurt, but I don't know how badly, they've put him in a different cell them ours. Rune was freaking out before, though now he's sleeping. Good thing they didn't search us so I've still got my phone and some other stuff. While Rune's still asleep, I'm trying to figure out how to get out. It doesn't look good at all. I think we're kinda in trouble."

"End of forty-first message. Forty-second message."

"Lord Lykouleon, this is Cesia talking. I've got Zoma's cell phone, he can't call right now because…well he doesn't exactly have hands in this form. I've got the Wind Staff, too and we're heading out of here. I'll try to break the Knights out and get them home in one piece. Rath had better not have done anything stupid!"

"End of forty-second message. Forty-third message."

"Kitchel reporting in again with better news. Lim has part of her power back and we found the Water of Chance. Plus we got to Thatz and Rath and used the Water just in time to save them. So all we have to do is get them out and we'll be okay!"

"End of forty-third message. Forty-fourth message."

With a pause, the next message began. Cesia spoke in a quite voice. "Lord Lykouleon, a lot of things have happened. Rath is…is dead. Or something like that. Zoma and I broke out the other two Knights along with Kitchel, Ringleys, Lim Kaana, and Tintlet. Right now we're hiding but are still in Kainaldia. I'm goin to try to summon some people who should be here back, but I'm not sure it'll work. We're regrouping for now, trying to get a little rest before we figure out what to do."

"End of forty-fourth message. Forty-fifth message."

A tentative voice. "…Dragon Lord? My name is Gil, and I'm the new Knight of Fire. I hope that will be all right. I was formerly the mountain guardian of Mt. Mfartha but Rath killed me. When he… ah, died, I was summoned back. I have no idea exactly what this means; however, I'm not a demon anymore, which is an upside. Kitchel, Tintelt, Ringleys, and I are coming to Draqueen."

"End of forty-fourth message. Forty-fifth message."

This voice was the complete opposite of the last, loud and annoyed. "Bierrez. Apparently I'm the Red Dragon Officer. Which makes me non-evil and not a demon anymore according to Gil. Cesia has things that she wants to deal with over here before she'll come back so that means that I'll be here too. Thatz, Lim Kaana, Rune, and Zoma are sticking around too. Damn, all these people are hard to keep track of."

"End of forty-fifth message. Forty-sixth message."

"Hey, Lord Lykouleon, this is Kitchel. I'm heading over to were you are in the Forest Annex to give you the Three Treasures. Um…what's left of them."

"End of forty-sixth message. Forty-seventh message."

"Thatz here. We got a bit separated getting away from Fedelta. This annoying guy…ow! I mean Bierrez! Jeez, put that weapon away! Man, you're just like Rath sometimes! We met this guy Bierrez knows called Roobal, and he's going to take us out of these tunnels we're stuck in. If I can get them to stop arguing!"

"End of forty-seventh message. Forty-eighth message."

"Lykouleon, Ruwalk calling in to tell you that there's a huge demon running around the castle. I'll try to marshal forces to deal with it but I need Tetheus over here now. See you can get a hold of him, would you?"

"End of forty-eighth message. Forty-ninth message."

"…Dragon Lord? This is Ringleys; Gil's holding the phone for me so I can talk. The phone is actually Rune's but he let Gil borrow it. We got a little separated from the others, but I think Kitchel is still trying to find you to deliver the Three Treasures. But the two of us ran into a demon. Gil got hurt and then we ran into this other demon, a big black one! We're hiding right now but I think we might go and try to find that first demon. Gil says he knows him, but isn't sure. I don't know what will happen with Gil hurt."

"End of forty-ninth message. Fiftieth message."

"Tetheus talking. Rune was transported here by Water, and Lady Tintlet also arrived here along with the thief girl. A Dragon Fighter is escorting her to you. However the demon Saabel broke into the Sanctuary and attempted to destroy it. When approached by both the faeries he fell from a great height and was badly hurt. There we found out he was once a faerie but was under the spell of a demon, at the moment it is unclear whether he is dead or not. The one fact that is apparent though is that a portal has been opened here from Kainaldia. We will try to defend it as best as we can." the situation must have been dire indeed to make Tetheus speak so much.

"End of fiftieth message. Fifty-first message."

"This is Delte. I found the new Fire Knight, Gil along with Ringleys. Both the large black demon and the smaller one have been dealt with and we're going to join the others."

"End of fifty-first message. Fifty-second message."

"Thatz here. This guy and…ow! Bierrez, okay? I'll always use your name then if you're so particular about it. Look don't argue with me, just keep that thing back while I make this call. Lord Lykouleon, that guy who was acting as our guide just ran off and left this big ghost-ish demon in our way. We might take a while to catch up with the others."

"End of fifty-second message. Fifty-third message."

"...err, I'm Lim Kaana, and Cesia asked me to call because she's busy and Zoma can't hold a phone in the form he's in. She wants you to know that she's going to summon Rath back. She sounds like she really thinks she can do it."

"End of fifty-third message. Fifty-fourth message."

"Bierrez. Thatz was summoned, or something, and left his phone here. If you see him, tell that bastard that if I find him, I'm going to kill him. As soon as I kill this stupid demon. Godsdamit who's this woman? Wait…Shyrendora? Oh damn, this can't be good. I have to go."

"End of fifty-fourth message. Fifty-fifth message."

"Rune speaking, I borrowed a cell phone from one of the Fighters. Tetheus and his brother disappeared to battle somewhere else, and I'm not sure who will win, not that I doubt Tetheus. Fedelta and Thatz are in the middle of a battle with the Sword of Fire and the Sword of Ice, and if Fedelta wins then a huge demon Yusurugi will be summoned here. Before he left, Tetheus said that it would be very bad if that happens. I'll try to keep Saabel from harm as he's currently a target. With Tintlet safe it's the only thing I can think of to do."

"End of fifty-fifth message. Fifty-sixth message."

"Rune again. We failed and Yusurugi's been summoned, we're retreating now because the Sanctuary is collapsing. Ah, Thatz! Don't pull my arm like that, I'm running. Oh, hello Delte, Gil, you'd better get out of here; the Castle is coming down. Follow us; we're heading out too. Milord, Yusurugi is filling the air with a poison haze, but we'll try to subdue it."

"End of fifty-sixth message. Fifty-seventh message."

"This is Ruwalk, Lykouleon. We've attacked Yusurugi and taken Saabel's body out of it. I don't know what that will do but there's a chance it might stop it. There's been no sign of Tetheus so far; I guess he's still in battle somewhere."

"End of fifty-seventh message. Fifty-eighth message."

"Bierrez. Still stuck in Nadil's Castle. Still alone. Still under attack. Still Shyrendora. Could use some help if someone's free. Preferably Gil. Not Thatz. Wait… she came from that hole in the wall up there, maybe if I look there… I gotta go, need the extra hand for climbing."

"End of fifty-eighth message. Fifty-ninth message."

"Hello? Dragon Lord? This is Lim Kaana, I called before. Cesia is still working on reviving Rath, she says he's being stubborn about coming back. Or at least, that's what I understand what she said to mean. There's a lot of weird stuff happening."

"End of fifty-ninth message. Sixtieth message."

"This is Gil. I, um, was standing next to that strange black coffin in the Sanctuary, but somehow now I'm back in Nadil's Castle. I don't know how that happened but Fire isn't worried about it. By the way, Milord, do you know who else is here? Everyone moves around so fast I've lost track of who is where. Isn't Bierrez here somewhere? Oh, never mind. He just came through that wall. For some reason he looks angry. And he's running. What? Wait! Bierrez, let go of my arm. Why are we running? …is that Shyrendora? She's changed a lot. I don't remember her being that… big."

"End of sixtieth message. Sixty-first message."

"Hello, Lord Lykouleon. Rath speaking. Nope, not dead anymore. Funny about that, people just keep bringing me back. Anyway, I'm in Zoma's body now. Cesia and this faerie, Lim Kaana and I are heading for Nadil. But the whole Castle keeps shaking, Cesia says that Bierrez has something to do with it. Tell him to hurry it up, this shaking is really annoying!"

"End of sixty-first message. Sixty-second message."

"Kitchel reporting for duty! Not on my regular phone, though, I lost that when we fell down that fissure in Nadil's Castle, so I had to borrow one. Could you say thanks to whoever transported us here, by the way? That was a big help. Oh, and don't worry about the fissure part, I met up with Gil and this friend of his, Bierrez on the way down so we're not on our own anymore. Or dead at the bottom of the fissure. We might actually have a chance of getting to Rath and Cesia now, not that the Dragon Fighters you sent with me are completely useless, of course. We're heading deeper underground after the others. Signing off!"

"End of sixty-second message. Sixty-third message."

"Lykouleon, this is Ruwalk. Thatz, Rune, and I have our hands full dealing with demons here with what Fighters are left. We could use Tetheus here, if you know where he is. And… are you all right, Lykouleon? Draqueen is starting to crumble. I'm getting worried about you old friend! Oh and… I thought I saw Alfeegi here. But I know he died, I was there. Why would his spirit be here?"

"End of sixty-third message. Sixty-fourth message."

"Damn, damn, damn! Rath here. I'm alone. I lost Cesia and Lim Kaana somehow."

"End of sixty-fourth message. Sixty-fifth message."

"Umm, my name is Saabel. And I'm a faerie. At least I think, my memories are a little vague right now. But this guy with long hair in a cloak gave me his phone and pointed me in this direction. He says I have to do him a favor. I might have recognized him but I'm not sure. Whoa! …Hey! You, yeah, you with the black hair and red eyes, what did you throw me for?" Saabel hung up.

"End of sixty-fifth message. Sixty-sixth message."

"Lykouleon, it's Ruwalk here, reporting about Draqueen's defense. We're running out of soldiers to defend this location so we're pulling back and taking Saabel's body farther away from Yusurugi. Thatz says that's what's most important right now, he's fighting back from the other side. We're holding out for the time being, but we could really use Tetheus here. It's not looking good."

"End of sixty-sixth message. Sixty-seventh message."

"Kitchel calling in! It's gotten better for us, we're not alone now! Actually everyone is here. We're sitting on Fire above Nadil's Castle, which is collapsing. I can't say I feel bad about that. There's a lot of us here, it's kind of crowded. Let's see, there's me, my three Fighters, Gil, Bierrez, even Rath, and Cesia! Don't worry sir, I haven't forgotten my mission. And Shyrendora's dead! What? Yes, yes, Bierrez, we know that was you. Apparently that's why Nadil's place is falling in. We just don't know where Nadil is. That part really bothers me…I wonder where he's lurking."

"End of sixty-seventh message. Sixty-eighth message."

"Hi, Milord. Saabel talking. I've got what I think is good news. I found this shrimp, earthworm, seahorse thing that calls itself the Diamond Clover. I don't know what that is, but since I don't remember too much right now I'm not too worried about it. In fact, I don't really know if I've ever met you! Oh, and there's this faerie called Lim Kaana with me. No idea about that either. We're following this shrimp thing right now."

"End of sixty-eighth message. Sixty-ninth message."

"Hello? Dragon Lord? Are you there? I'm Lim Kaana, I'm on the phone Saabel had with him. We passed back into where I think is Draqueen and he'd gone all strange. He's dead white and shaking all over. That Diamond Clover is gone too. I don't know what to do!"

"End of sixty-ninth message. Seventieth message."

"This is Delte. I'm with Tintlet and Ringleys right now. We're going to give all the Power of Virtue we can summon to the Diamond Clover. Hopefully it will be enough."

"End of seventieth message. Seventy-first message."

"… Shydeman is dead." It was Tetheus's voice. He sounded tired and something in his voice suggested he was wounded. "I shall… return to Draqueen… to aid in the battle…as soon as I can…"

"End of seventy-first message. Seventy-second message."

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Gil, are you sure this is safe? Lord Lykouleon this is Farthil, one of the Dragon Fighters that came with that crazy woman— I mean Kitchel. We lost Rath and Cesia somehow, and before she could make that delivery you wanted her to. Which is why we're following them and …oh gods, we can't go upside down! We'll fall off! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

"End of seventy-second message. Seventy-third message."

"Lykouleon, we did it! Yusurugi is gone, the Diamond Clover defeated it. There are still plenty of Nadil's demons around, but now we actually have a chance! And this is Ruwalk, sorry, I forgot to say in the excitement."

"End of seventy-fourth message. Seventy-fifth message."

"Thatz here, and I'm glad to say the fire rat will bug us no more. Yup, Fedelta is dead. I've made sure of it."

"End of seventy-fifth message. Seventy-sixth message."

"Kitchel here! I made that delivery you wanted me to. Rath and Cesia are busy fight Nadil, but with Rakieta I think Nadil's toast."

"End of seventy-sixth message. Seventy-seventh message."

"This is Cesia, Lord Lykouleon. Rath says you're dead. I hope he's wrong. But I wanted to tell you, we won. Nadil is gone. Forever."

"End of seventy-seventh message. Seventy-eighth message."

"Lykouleon, this is Ruwalk. The demons are dead or have run. It's over. It's all over… at last.

"End of seventy-eighth message. No more messages."

Rath sighed and put his head into his hands. A lot had changed since then.

People died.

Buildings were destroyed.

Now that it was all over, Rath missed those happier times.

But now it was time to move on.

Rath stabbed a button.

"Messages deleted. No new messages."

--

END