-1Come… free us… From a thousand years of darkness…
A millennium of solitude and suffering...
Beautiful white wings for you…
For the world…
Death and destruction…
Aha ha ha ha… ha ha ha…
"Hmmm…Argh…" I felt as though a fog was lifting in my mind, and the pain quickly rush in to fill it's place.
'Where am I?' I thought, pulling myself to a sitting position. "Ugh…My head!" It was all I could do to hold back tears at the stabbing pain. 'What the hell kind of magic was that?' I thought. 'She never told me it would hurt this much!'
"Ah… I see you have awakened. How do you feel?" A strange man walked over to me. I could tell he was about the same age as my grandfather was, although he looked a bit younger.
'I feel like my head got ran over, how do you think I feel?!' I wanted to say, but he reminded me too much of my grandfather, so I chose different words. "Who are you? Why am I here?"
The old man smiled. "My name is Larikush. I'm the village doctor here at Cebalrai. They found you lying unconscious in the woods nearby, and brought you here."
The fog finally disappeared fully, and the rest of my memories came back. Melodia, AEthera, and his disagreement with our plan. I also remembered our story for what had happened to me. "Oh yeah, I remember now… I was attacked by Rock Cats… Oh man… How stupid of me."
Larikush gave a surprised expression, and then regained his composure. "You're lucky they were only Rock Cats. They are herbivores, after all… It's awfully strange to hear of them attacking humans…" The old man then turned away, apparently in thought.
'Uh oh… does he not believe me? Damn it, I knew it wasn't a believable story…' I thought, silently cursing Melodia for her idea. I hadn't learned much about Rock Cats in my short time here, but to me, it didn't seem likely that they would attack a human.
"The animals in the forest have been acting quite peculiar lately. I'm not sure why, but they're much more aggressive than they used to be. You'd better stay away from those woods."
'Hmmm… so it was pretty believable after all. I wonder how much work Melodia put into research on the background for such a simple story. She doesn't strike me as the type to le even the smallest detail slip by.' I thought, and began to think of what other parts of the plan I had doubted her on. Were those right too? I hoped so. I really wanted them to be, but I'd just have to see once it got to those stages.
He turned back to me, and stared into my eyes. "By the way, what do you call yourself? I don't recall seeing you around these parts." He gave me a look that told me he thought he knew me, but needed a name to place it. I could tell that I couldn't lie about it.
"My name's Kalas. It's my first time here, which is why I got lost, I guess." I hoped he hadn't seen me anywhere with Melodia; otherwise everything could be jeopardized at the very beginning.
"Kalas, is it?" His eyes glinted in surprised recognition. "Welcome to Cebalrai Village, boy. It looks like you took quite a blow to the head, so I was worried you might have amnesia… but you seem to be fine. If you feel up to it, feel free to take a look around the village. We're only a small farming community on the frontier, so I'm afraid there isn't that much to see..."
'"It looks like you took quite a blow to the head"?! Did I fall on a rock, or something? Or did Melodia hit me while I was out? Seems like something that witch would do… Hmph. I know that it was for the good of the story, but I wish she would have at least told me she'd do that.
Larikush turned to a table at the edge of the room, and I followed his gaze over to an item sitting on it. My winglet. There was a confident look in his eyes, probably meaning that he knew something about it, and I sensed a test coming on. "By the way, I left your winglet over there by the window. Quite an unusual design for a winglet, I must say. Different than those used by the empire."
I had a slight pause, debating on whether or not I should tell him the truth, but quickly realized that if he knew the truth, and I lied to him, he'd know I had something to hide. "It was hand-crafted by my grandfather. He was an excellent engineer." He stared at me, and he seemed to be searing my eyes for any hint of a lie. This guy scared me. Not only did he know something about Gramps, but probably me as well. I needed to stay as far away from him as possible.
"Ah, I see. Your grandfather… very impressive. And how is he doing?" He asked, seeming to be asking more for himself than for politeness.
"He died, two years ago…" I looked down, the memories coming back. The fire, that girl, and Giacomo… Rage boiled up inside me. Giacomo.
"Is that so? I'm… sorry to hear that." There was no longer a doubt in my mind he knew Gramps, with his tone of voice sounding more sad than apologetic. I had to leave before he could ask me any more questions.
"Well, thanks for the help, Doc. I owe you one."
Larikush turned to me, and gave a slight smile. "Actually, I'm not the one you should be thanking. Meemai is the one who found you lying in the woods, and carried you here."
"I see, Meemai, is it?" I asked. The doctor nodded, and waved his goodbye, as I strapped on my winglet, and walked out the door.
As I waked into the main part of the town, a boy called out to me. "Hey, you're the one Meemai saved, right?" I walked over to him, wondering why he would need to speak to me. "Glad to see you're up and walking around." At this, the little Greythorne squeaked happily.
"Whoa! Is this him… her? Meemai? Is this who brought me here?" I asked, taken aback. I was also relieved, as even if Meemai had seen me talking to Melodia, there was no way it could tell anyone.
"Uh-huh! Meemai's really cool. He's way smarter than the drunks you see around here, and helpful too!"
"I see… well, thanks, Meemai. I owe you one." I said. 'Though how you would collect is beyond me!' I laughed to myself. The little Greythorne only squeaked happily.
Deciding to go visit the village headman, I walked into the house farthest from the village gate and spoke to him. There was a slightly relieved tone in his voce as he addressed me.
"Oh, you're finally awake." He said, and I carefully thought about my response. It seemed best to go with apologetic - no one would blame you for being sorry.
"Yes sir. I guess I've caused you some trouble. I let my guard down and…well, sorry about all this." I said, trying to sound believable. It was hard to stay on a story that you knew was an outright lie.
The man smiled, and I was surprised. Even though I was a complete stranger, he truly seemed to care about me. "Don't worry about what's already happened, young fella. Feel free to stay in the village and heal your wounds for as long as you need." His face then turned dark. "However, I must insist that you never go near Moonguile forest again… I've heard rumors of meddlers from Pherkad snooping around that forest without permission…"
AEthera gave what would have been a smile, had he a face to do so with. "Yeah, real bright. We're going to be the best of friends, you old man… NOT. You can't order us around." I resisted blurting out his answer, but just settled for a scowl.
"…" I didn't really know what to say. I couldn't risk offending him too much, and drawing attention to myself. I was supposed to follow that girl, and that was it.
The man showed almost a look of disgust on his face as he continued. "Hmph. Neither you nor those blockheads understand that Moonguile forest must not be disturbed! An ancient, hideous monster slumbers deep within that forest. These days, even the forest animals seem uneasy. Now is not the time to meddle in places you don't belong. " I decided to leave, before I ended up unable to control my temper.
A s I headed towards the exit, I saw a familiar face and went to investigate. In front of me was a girl wearing a very… bright… pinkish color. Was this really her? Was she the one with the pendant?
"Hello. Are you a traveler too?" I nodded my confirmation to her. "I came to see the ancient ruins in the woods near here. How about you?"
"Me? Well, I…" 'came here to follow you.' It's not like I could ever tell her that, though. I just trailed off, and counted my blessings when two men wearing different colored versions of the same set of clothes came up and began to talk with her.
"I have to go…" the girl said, and I sighed in relief. "Bye, little guy. See ya, Meemai." And then the three of them left. After they were out of earshot, I heard the little boy's protests from behind me.
"I have a name, ya know. C – E – D – R. Cedr! …They're crazy, huh, Meemai? Why bother going all the way down there to see some stupid old ruins? Nobody in this village will even go near those woods. They say it's cursed, or somethin'. I hope they don't get jumped by wild animals out there, like someone else did…"
I had to stop myself from punching the boy right there.
"Yeah, really." 'Like that could ever happen. Rock Cats don't attack people.' "Ancient ruins in Moonguile Forest, eh? Why don't we go have a look ourselves?" 'After all, AEthera, I have a pendant to follow.' I responded. As I walked towards the gate, I decided to add another comment.
"All righty. Let's go have a look at Moonguile Forest, shall we?" I asked my spirit, and AEthera made no attempt to discourage me, thought he did seem a little confused. "I'd like to get a look at those ancient ruins." I lied to him, and he seemed to believe it. It appeared that Melodia's magic really worked… not like I thought it wouldn't, or anything…
"Yeah, but…" AEthera began, and I knew where he was going. "The villagers seem to have a fear of the woods, but I think they're making a big deal over nothing. Mere superstition, I tell you." I reasoned. If he kept fighting, the plan might not work. I had to go after that girl fast, or I'd risk losing her forever.
"But Kalas, if you lost to a few Rock Cats, then…" I was really starting to hate that story. It made me look weak, and I don't like to look weak. Besides, I needed to go to the spring, and take the first End Magnus. Hopefully that girl would unseal it, intentionally or on accident, for me with that pendant. It would save me the effort of stealing it and trying to figure out how to work it.
"Hey, relax! You won't catch me off guard this time." I assured him, and with that, we headed into the forest.
I cut down yet another Shawra, finally getting annoyed with the things. "Damn it! Why does the forest have to be infested with these things!"
My guardian spirit decided to answer me. "Just be grateful it isn't swarming with more powerful creatures. You can easily kill these, at least." I hate it when he makes sense. I can't come up with good arguments against things that do.
Damn him and his logic.
A huge roar echoed throughout the forest. "…?! What was that?!" I said, shocked. Even AEthera didn't have the answers this time.
I ran up to a clearing, just in time to see a Sabre Dragon hit the two men from before; their bodies landed some distance away with sickening thuds… they were quite clearly dead. "Gram! Leon!" The girl cried, not noticing the beast coming in for a fatal blow. As it was about to strike, I leapt down, slashing its mouth and sending it sliding backwards. "…?! It's you!" The girl gasped.
"Yes, it's me. Who else would bother saving you?" I wanted to say, but I needed to be on good terms with this girl. Even if I were to just take the pendant from her, I wouldn't know how to use it. But Melodia told me she does. Apparently, she even knows what the End Magnus are; otherwise she wouldn't be going to the spring. That certainly saves me the trouble of convincing her to go there without revealing my plan.
The Sabre Dragon shook off its confusion from my surprise attack, and began to attack again. "Here it comes!"