Mana Wars
Chapter 1
Review Replies: None yet!
Lloyd heard a stiff knock on the oaken door of his chamber.
"Come in." said Lloyd distastefully.
The gruff man stepped inside the small room and handed a scroll to Lloyd.
"A message to you, General Irving."
"Leave it here," came the cold reply. "I'll take care of it."
The other man left, leaving Lloyd by himself.
Lloyd surveyed the room once again. The cold, gray stone walls chilled the room, and the massive amounts of notes on his desk lay ignored.
After the door shut, Lloyd's office was pitch black. He chuckled. Lucky for him that he knew every inch of the place.
Quickly, he retrieved a candle and lit it, bringing minimal light into the room. He grabbed the scroll that was just delivered and unraveled it slowly. As he did, he saw that on the back of the parchment, Fujibayashi was written in gold ink.
He wondered if this was his old friend writing to him. The thought left his mind as quickly as it had come. It was probably from someone else, anyway. It always was. Countless times he believed that his long-gone acquaintances were sending for him. Yet every scroll he unraveled was another so-called noble begging for him to bless their child, or some kind of nonsense like that.
While his mind was busy bickering about the possibilities, Lloyd took the opportunity to begin reading the mysterious message. As he held the candle close to the paper, but not too close as to set the parchment alight, he could make out the first few sentences.
"Dear General Irving,
I am commander Fujibayashi of the Mizuho tribe. I have come to you for help.
Our lands are in a dire state. Our countries are on the brink of a world war. It may not be obvious, but due to our quest to restore the balance between Tethe'alla and Sylvarant, the power of mana has flourished in both worlds. This has led to the recreation of magitechnology, and many nations are secretly building massive mechanical armies. You must understand our position in these times.
As the leader of the Mizuho people, I face a terrible decision; a decision that may destroy me, whichever choice I may make. My fellow kind are urging me to begin the creation of an army to protect the Mizuho tribes, they want me to be part of the war. If I do not create an army, Mizuho will be no more in a short time. But if I do make that choice, I will side against my friends.
If you have not heard yet, the Sage siblings are now in control of a large portion of Sylvarant, while Zelos Wilder and Mr. Bryant each hold their own followers. Presea Combatir is an elite general of many small nations. I know that Colette is part of your own council over in Sylvarant, but you mustn't tell her any of this.
And finally, you father, Kratos Aurion, is a commander of the Cruxis Angels, along with Yuan. They are both no longer under anyone's control, and they have had their way since we destroyed Yggdrasil.
Please, I beg you to help me find a way to stop this war. Remember when you saved the two worlds? No one else thought that there was any other choice than to accept the circumstances. I need your wisdom. Together, we can find the others that we used to travel with so long ago, and we can unite once again to save these lands.
I would like to arrange a secret meeting with you, so that we con solve this tragic problem together. I will keep the location and time secret, but you may find those out after you decipher the riddle I have written:
Where the shadows of giants circle from all around,
And the light of mana can still be found.
After the passion of Earth has fed the ground,
A noise can be heard, among whistling sounds.
Come when a third world appears to have gone,
And the sweetness of magenta has almost withdrawn.
Hopeful wishes,
Commander Fujibayashi."
Lloyd stared at the paper in a sleeplike state, and none would have ever guessed that he was busy working the words of the riddle around in his mind. None other than one man in the entire two worlds, and that one man happened to be the one spying on Lloyd at the time.
Many hours later Lloyd fell asleep, tired of all the thinking he had done on the puzzle. He would have been perfectly safe from any spies as well, if he hadn't been muttering the riddle over and over in his sleep.
He had better watch his back in his carelessness, thought the spy, as he used a concentration of mana to burn the words of the poem into his skin.