Authoress: Firecat
Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of destiny
Despite the lack of light, it was rather easy to see. Maybe it was because his eyes had adjusted to the light after being kept there so long or maybe he just had very keen eyesight, but either way, he could make out every little crack in the solid brick walls. Gently brushing aside strands of stray blonde hair he lifted bleeding fingers to the stones and dug at the flaking blocks.
Outside of the cell there were the sounds of laughter and drunken fights and the smell of alcohol and freshly prepared food wafted in towards him. Sucking in a deep breath of the outside world he forced himself to focus and scrapped harder at the caked cement. Many of his fingernails had broken off and his fingers were injured so much they may never be able to work the same again, but it was little compared to what these people had planned for him. Right then all he cared about was escaping and making it back to his friends and...her. Rutee would surely miss him, especially since they were meant to meet each other before he had fallen right into a trap.
"At least they're aware of my disappearance." He thought positively.
With a hard shove of his palm a large portion of bricks was dislodged and fell out of the small crack of a window. With quiet feet he climbed to the small hole and looked down. He was a far way from the ground, perhaps four stories. Taking a deep breath and gulping he carefully swung his foot out of the window then wiggled the rest of his lithe body out, onto the tiniest ledge that ever was. With the cold wind whipping at his face harshly he wondered just what it was exactly he had done to piss off these people. All he and the others had wanted to do was settle down and live happily and right before their yearly reunion, wham! A harsh smack to the back of the head and when he woke up there he was, locked in a cell. He had been stuck for over a week, but he had lost count of the exact number of days rather quickly, it was his nature to be forgetful.
Taking another deep breath he gripped the side of the wall harder then took a leap off. As he fell he was sure he would have perfect luck to land on his head and break his neck and never be able to see his friends or family again, but it would be an insult to die at someone else's hands after everything he had lived through. Before he hit a sudden burst of wind caught him and suspended him. Startled he let out a loud yelp, which he feared would alert his captors. As he waited to be dropped to the ground something interesting happened; he was placed gently on the soft grass. For a moment he stood still, bracing himself for a hard impact, but he just kept waiting. Finally he cracked an eye opened and, by the goddess, saw his friends rushing over to him as quickly as they could.
"Garr!" He screeched, realizing that it was he, and Igtenos, that had saved him from becoming a pancake.
As he ran to meet his companions he was surprised by a yell and loud clanking that came from behind him. Throwing a glance back he saw that he was being pursued, just as he had feared. Running faster he put an arm out to catch himself on Rutee's waist and ended up bring them both to the ground. After fumbling around for a moment he helped her to her feet and was enveloped in a tight embrace.
"Stahn! I was so worried!"
The tone in her voice confirmed that fact, but currently they had no time to discuss what had happened and how they knew where he was, they had to fight. A swarm of armored soldiers stared at them all, Stahn, Garr, Rutee, Philia, Leon, Chelsea and Mary. Sending a glare at the men the silver hair king thrust Dymlos into his friend's hands and proceeded to walk forward. Stahn looked at the weapon for a moment then groaned, realizing that all his friends were abandoning him to approach the battlefield.
Catching Rutee's wrist he gave her a lost and confused look, but she just frowned at him and shook him off. Fearing what may happen if he didn't fight as well the blonde slowly started to walk forward.
"Better move quicker, Aileron, your friends are already fighting. For you I might add."
"Dymlos." He spoke. "How did you find me?'
"Garr seemed to know of a specific band of underground terrorists that has it out for you world heroes. We just followed their path of destruction and bam, here we are."
Not bothering to ask anything more the young man readied his weapon as a small group of soldiers advanced on him.
"Hya!!"
Rutee pulled back as her blade fell right into the enemy's chest, killing him almost instantly. With a victorious smirk she glanced around at the other fallen men, noting her handy work. Seething Atwight she looked to her friends. Garr had no problem holding off soldiers so Chelsea could fire at them, neither did Mary or Leon, and Philia was doing quite well. Thinking that they were close to a perfect victory she suddenly realized a bit too late that she had missed one member of the team, the one member she cared for more than any, ironically.
Stahn let out a howl of pain that cut through the night's silence and made everyone pause to jump. With fear in her heart Rutee began to run to her friend, glaring at what she saw come into her view. Stahn was lying on the ground, clutching at his chest as a soldier stood above him, sword poised over his shoulder, ready to strike. With a battle cry she drew Atwight forth, summoning her most powerful spell. The man was knocked off of his feet and, to his own shock, drown in a whirlpool of angry water.
"Ha!" She scoffed, looking at the body. Her triumph over the enemy made her temporarily forget what she had rushed over to do, that is until she heard someone groan out painfully. Suddenly realizing her folly she kneeled down and, ever so carefully, held her secret love in her arms. Gently stroking his hair she tried to assess his wounds, only to find a single, large gash across his chest. It was deep, far too deep not to be fatal. A tear fell from her eyes as she realized something...her love as dying.
"Stahn..." She whispered, tightening her grip on him. He looked up at her with pained, yet happy, eyes.
"Rutee...I'm sorry I didn't-ah-didn't make it to your party."
The onyx hair girl shook her head violently. "That's all right, we'll have plenty of other times to party. Let me heal you first!" Taking her sword from her side she concentrated dearly on the task set out before her.
Stahn laughed and put his hand on top of hers, lowering the sentient weapon.
"It's too late, Rutee. But-but I wanted to tell you one last thing." His breath was becoming ragged and he was having a hard time breathing, but he was determined to say then what he had been too afraid to say before.
"Yes?" The girl whispered, tears falling from her eyes.
"I-I love you. More than anyone else. I want you to have this."
With shaky and numb fingers the blonde reached into his pocket and drew out a surprisingly shiny ring. It was a beautiful silver band with a sparkling white diamond atop it. Rutee took it, shivering with anticipation.
"What's this?" She asked, already knowing the answer.
Again Stahn laughed at her. "I- I was going to-well, it's a bit late now, but I was going to..." he stopped to think, then took in a long breath. "I was going to propose to you."
A strangled sob escaped her as she clamped a hand over her mouth. She rubbed furiously at her eyes, holding onto Stahn tighter.
"Yes!" She shouted. "I do! I will! I'll be yours; I'll never marry anyone else! I swear, I will always only love you!"
A small smile played on the boy's pale lips. Taking her hand he leaned forward with all of his strength to kiss her for the first, and potentially last, time. Rutee sank into the kiss, running her hands through the rugged tangles of blonde hair, ignoring a strange taste of blood.
Pulling back she gently cradled his head to her chest, shaking with sobs. Stahn settled comfortably, knowing that his end was near. For a moment the young woman was at a loss of exactly what to do but an idea dawned on her and she quickly complied.
"Help!" She yelled, hoping that her love's other friends would be able to say one last goodbye before he left.
The blonde shook with tiny laughter, apparently things are funny when you're dying.
"Oh...I love you." He mumbled, nestling further into her warm body.
"I love you too." The girl replied.
Garr looked up from the body count when he heard Rutee yell. He swore he had seen her look at him when she had finished with her fight, then she had disappeared. Why was that again? He couldn't remember-ah! Yes! Someone had screamed, that was it! But who was it? He pondered the thought as he walked quickly over to where he had heard her yell from, the others making their own way over.
Who screamed like that? It was so familiar; he had heard it plenty of times before, but now he just couldn't remember! It was-it was-it was Stahn! YES! But...why would Stahn yell like that? With a sudden impending fear entering his gut he walked even quicker, ignoring Chelsea's protests from behind him. When he had made it over he saw the others huddled around Rutee and lying in her lap was Stahn. He gave his friend a once over.
His head was banged up pretty bad and was bleeding in several spots and his mouth was dripping blood. He looked down further and gagged. A large pool of red was surrounding both he and Rutee. Blood was seeping from Stahn's wound and curdling the green grass. Gulping he knelt beside his friend and took his hand.
"You okay, buddy?" He asked, receiving an odd look.
"What do you think?" Came the slightly peeved response.
Opening his mouth no words came out and the king was forced to just shake his head. Stahn let out a small snort of amusement.
"It's not so bad, it...doesn't really hurt much. It's just...cold. Very cold."
A slight glaze had formed in the boy's bright blue eyes, dulling them to a dark gray color. The purple-eyed girl hugged him closer to her body as she cried. He smiled and started up again.
"I-I just wanted to say I'll miss you all and- and I love you. All of you."
He took one last look at all of his friends, some weeping and others putting on a strong front.
"I'll be watching, I swear. Please-remember me. Remember me...re-mem...ber......"
Stahn's head rolled back slightly, pre formed tears falling partially. Rutee shook him gently, repeating his name over and over. The others looked away at this slightly pathetic action; afraid to believe he was really gone. In anguish the young woman let out a cry of great magnitude and collapsed on her dead lover's body.
Rutee gently stroked the side of her love's pale cheek. Gently she kissed his still warm lips then ran a hand over his eyes to close them. Standing she looked at the others.
"He's gone." She stated.
Everyone looked at her, already knowing that fact very well. Taking in the silence she looked around at everyone, fighting their caving facades. Even Leon was turning pink from welling tears. Chelsea clung to Garr's leg and Mary was holding her ax close as if it were a small child.
"H-hey!" Leon's voice cracked as he spoke. "Why don't we just use a life bottle?"
There was a small pause, then everyone's faces lit up with new hope.
"That's a great idea, Leon!" Rutee cried.
Taking the compliment with a smile the young raven hair boy got to his knees and began to rummage through his brown sack until he felt the familiar engravings of the life bottle. Pulling it out he looked at the blue liquid with wonder.
"Here." He said, passing it to his sister with great gentleness.
Taking it the young woman smiled and let out a strange laugh.
"Uh- Rutee?" Atwight spoke to her young master. "Uh, I think there's something you need to know. Rutee, are you listening?"
"Hush, Atwight! Can't you see I'm in the middle of something?"
With a mental cringe they all felt the sword remained silent as the girl knelt down and parted the blonde's lips. Careful not to move him too much she elevated his head so the liquid would go down his throat. When the bottle was empty she cautiously put it down and waited by her dear's side. And waited. And waited.
"It's not working!" She cried in near hysterics.
"Damn vender, I knew he was no good!" Mary fumed, picking up her ax.
"I tried to tell you...," A weak voice said.
With a loud growl the sword woman pulled Atwight from her side and looked at her accusingly.
"What did you try to tell me?!"
"You can't bring him back to life with a life bottle." Was the short reply.
"Fine! You know a resurrection spell, we'll use that!"
"That won't work either."
"Why not?!" The girl demanded.
The female sword sighed and explained. "There is a specific point when one cannot be brought back to life by magic or science or whatever it is you try. The gods laid down some sort of rule, so to say, that makes it so one can only be brought back so many times. Now its useless to try to bring Stahn back."
Rutee let out a disbelieving sound, then fell to her knees in tears. All hope was crushed and others began to let out cries and shed tears, even stoic Garr and Leon had a few tears to spare. Just as Rutee was about to curse the gods Dymlos interjected quietly.
"But what about the Trials of Atomoni?"
There was a pause.
"The what?' Leon asked, not at all amused by anything that had just been said or done.
"The trials of Atomoni. It's a way to bring Stahn back!"
"It is?!" Rutee asked with renewed vigor.
"No, its not! Dymlos, don't pollute their minds with myths!"
"It's not a myth!" the other sword bellowed with anger. "I know it's true! And, besides, who said you had to come, any ways?!"
There was a strange silence, then Garr broke it by clearing his throat.
"Dymlos, explain what these 'trials' are." He inquired.
The fire sword grumbled a bit but complied. "The trials of Atomoni are a pilgrimage, I suppose you could say. Those with faith will be guided to find four crystals, each representing the directions the tribes of the E'rthers went in after the Aeth'er wars. When the four crystals are found they must be taken to the hidden temple of the goddess and when placed in their respective spots the goddess herself will come forward to grant the adventurer a single wish. In our case that wish would be to bring blondie back to life, but we'll have to start now, we only have seven days."
"Seven days? Why so short a time?" Philia asked.
"This is a matter of restoring life. Dead bodies don't stay fresh for long. It says in the legend that the only way the gift of life will be restored is if the crystals are brought together before seven days are up and then even after she grants the wish the dead will need to be 'bathed in the light of love and god'. What ever that means."
"What ever that means?" Atwight scoffed. "If we don't know what it means why bother looking for it any ways?"
"Because he was my master!" Dymlos screamed. He had an awful temper for a synthetic object. "I grew quite attached to the little idiot, Atwight, and I can say he became somewhat of a son to me! I care about him and I care about bringing him back to life! If you don't then I think its best you just step off here!"
"Well excuse me, mister high and mighty, I just don't want my master to die as well! Then where would either of us be?!"
The humans in the group remained quiet as the swords had a 'stare down'. Between screaming swords with magical powers and the fact that there were two of them no one wanted to get in the middle of it. Finally Dymlos let out a long sorrowful sigh.
"I understand what you're saying, Atwight, but I-I need my master. What's the point of me being here if I don't have anyone to belong too?"
Again there was a silence.
"Look here, both of you." Clemente said. "We're going to go look for this 'goddess trial' and we're going to do it as a team. No one will get hurt so long as we're here to protect them. Now, cut it out, both of you and lets get this show on the road. We have seven days starting now so lets not waste them."
And that was that.
"Yeah, lets bring Stahn back. This could be fun." Chelsea said cheerfully.
"I have nothing better to do." Leon mumbled.
"I always have time for a friend in need." Garr replied.
"Me too." Mary echoed.
"That's great, you guys. But what about Stahn? Do we bring him along with us?" Rutee asked.
"I'd say no." The fire swordian spoke up.
"Why not?" She asked.
"He'll be safer if we take him back to his town. And besides, he may start to smell and who needs that?"
"Dymlos!" Igtenos chastised.
There was a small laugh and a grunt from the female sword. Taking the initiative Garr stooped and picked his friend's body up.
"I'd say we should start heading to Fitzgald now and on the way discuss which way to head. I don't know about you but I'm not looking forward to what his family and the towns people have to say about all of this."
A mental agreement was reached and they all started back to the Draconis. Rutee watched as her love's hand swayed lifelessly at his side. Burying her pain inside she convinced herself that it would only be a matter of time before she and Stahn would be reunited and then...then they would be married, just like she'd always dreamed of. And who knew? Maybe they would even have a few kids of their own.
TBC
I suddenly got my ToD inspiration back, don't know exactly why, so I decided to dig up an old story I tried to write and redo it so it was better. Much better. I may not be able to update all the time but with summer so close I'll have time then. And yes, this is slightly AU, as Leon and the swordians are still alive. Any ways, from here it's on to Liennea and off to find the crystals. Will the forces of friendship and love be enough to bring Stahn back or will it be too late? I haven't decided yet. Come back next chapter to see what happens.
Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of destiny
Despite the lack of light, it was rather easy to see. Maybe it was because his eyes had adjusted to the light after being kept there so long or maybe he just had very keen eyesight, but either way, he could make out every little crack in the solid brick walls. Gently brushing aside strands of stray blonde hair he lifted bleeding fingers to the stones and dug at the flaking blocks.
Outside of the cell there were the sounds of laughter and drunken fights and the smell of alcohol and freshly prepared food wafted in towards him. Sucking in a deep breath of the outside world he forced himself to focus and scrapped harder at the caked cement. Many of his fingernails had broken off and his fingers were injured so much they may never be able to work the same again, but it was little compared to what these people had planned for him. Right then all he cared about was escaping and making it back to his friends and...her. Rutee would surely miss him, especially since they were meant to meet each other before he had fallen right into a trap.
"At least they're aware of my disappearance." He thought positively.
With a hard shove of his palm a large portion of bricks was dislodged and fell out of the small crack of a window. With quiet feet he climbed to the small hole and looked down. He was a far way from the ground, perhaps four stories. Taking a deep breath and gulping he carefully swung his foot out of the window then wiggled the rest of his lithe body out, onto the tiniest ledge that ever was. With the cold wind whipping at his face harshly he wondered just what it was exactly he had done to piss off these people. All he and the others had wanted to do was settle down and live happily and right before their yearly reunion, wham! A harsh smack to the back of the head and when he woke up there he was, locked in a cell. He had been stuck for over a week, but he had lost count of the exact number of days rather quickly, it was his nature to be forgetful.
Taking another deep breath he gripped the side of the wall harder then took a leap off. As he fell he was sure he would have perfect luck to land on his head and break his neck and never be able to see his friends or family again, but it would be an insult to die at someone else's hands after everything he had lived through. Before he hit a sudden burst of wind caught him and suspended him. Startled he let out a loud yelp, which he feared would alert his captors. As he waited to be dropped to the ground something interesting happened; he was placed gently on the soft grass. For a moment he stood still, bracing himself for a hard impact, but he just kept waiting. Finally he cracked an eye opened and, by the goddess, saw his friends rushing over to him as quickly as they could.
"Garr!" He screeched, realizing that it was he, and Igtenos, that had saved him from becoming a pancake.
As he ran to meet his companions he was surprised by a yell and loud clanking that came from behind him. Throwing a glance back he saw that he was being pursued, just as he had feared. Running faster he put an arm out to catch himself on Rutee's waist and ended up bring them both to the ground. After fumbling around for a moment he helped her to her feet and was enveloped in a tight embrace.
"Stahn! I was so worried!"
The tone in her voice confirmed that fact, but currently they had no time to discuss what had happened and how they knew where he was, they had to fight. A swarm of armored soldiers stared at them all, Stahn, Garr, Rutee, Philia, Leon, Chelsea and Mary. Sending a glare at the men the silver hair king thrust Dymlos into his friend's hands and proceeded to walk forward. Stahn looked at the weapon for a moment then groaned, realizing that all his friends were abandoning him to approach the battlefield.
Catching Rutee's wrist he gave her a lost and confused look, but she just frowned at him and shook him off. Fearing what may happen if he didn't fight as well the blonde slowly started to walk forward.
"Better move quicker, Aileron, your friends are already fighting. For you I might add."
"Dymlos." He spoke. "How did you find me?'
"Garr seemed to know of a specific band of underground terrorists that has it out for you world heroes. We just followed their path of destruction and bam, here we are."
Not bothering to ask anything more the young man readied his weapon as a small group of soldiers advanced on him.
"Hya!!"
Rutee pulled back as her blade fell right into the enemy's chest, killing him almost instantly. With a victorious smirk she glanced around at the other fallen men, noting her handy work. Seething Atwight she looked to her friends. Garr had no problem holding off soldiers so Chelsea could fire at them, neither did Mary or Leon, and Philia was doing quite well. Thinking that they were close to a perfect victory she suddenly realized a bit too late that she had missed one member of the team, the one member she cared for more than any, ironically.
Stahn let out a howl of pain that cut through the night's silence and made everyone pause to jump. With fear in her heart Rutee began to run to her friend, glaring at what she saw come into her view. Stahn was lying on the ground, clutching at his chest as a soldier stood above him, sword poised over his shoulder, ready to strike. With a battle cry she drew Atwight forth, summoning her most powerful spell. The man was knocked off of his feet and, to his own shock, drown in a whirlpool of angry water.
"Ha!" She scoffed, looking at the body. Her triumph over the enemy made her temporarily forget what she had rushed over to do, that is until she heard someone groan out painfully. Suddenly realizing her folly she kneeled down and, ever so carefully, held her secret love in her arms. Gently stroking his hair she tried to assess his wounds, only to find a single, large gash across his chest. It was deep, far too deep not to be fatal. A tear fell from her eyes as she realized something...her love as dying.
"Stahn..." She whispered, tightening her grip on him. He looked up at her with pained, yet happy, eyes.
"Rutee...I'm sorry I didn't-ah-didn't make it to your party."
The onyx hair girl shook her head violently. "That's all right, we'll have plenty of other times to party. Let me heal you first!" Taking her sword from her side she concentrated dearly on the task set out before her.
Stahn laughed and put his hand on top of hers, lowering the sentient weapon.
"It's too late, Rutee. But-but I wanted to tell you one last thing." His breath was becoming ragged and he was having a hard time breathing, but he was determined to say then what he had been too afraid to say before.
"Yes?" The girl whispered, tears falling from her eyes.
"I-I love you. More than anyone else. I want you to have this."
With shaky and numb fingers the blonde reached into his pocket and drew out a surprisingly shiny ring. It was a beautiful silver band with a sparkling white diamond atop it. Rutee took it, shivering with anticipation.
"What's this?" She asked, already knowing the answer.
Again Stahn laughed at her. "I- I was going to-well, it's a bit late now, but I was going to..." he stopped to think, then took in a long breath. "I was going to propose to you."
A strangled sob escaped her as she clamped a hand over her mouth. She rubbed furiously at her eyes, holding onto Stahn tighter.
"Yes!" She shouted. "I do! I will! I'll be yours; I'll never marry anyone else! I swear, I will always only love you!"
A small smile played on the boy's pale lips. Taking her hand he leaned forward with all of his strength to kiss her for the first, and potentially last, time. Rutee sank into the kiss, running her hands through the rugged tangles of blonde hair, ignoring a strange taste of blood.
Pulling back she gently cradled his head to her chest, shaking with sobs. Stahn settled comfortably, knowing that his end was near. For a moment the young woman was at a loss of exactly what to do but an idea dawned on her and she quickly complied.
"Help!" She yelled, hoping that her love's other friends would be able to say one last goodbye before he left.
The blonde shook with tiny laughter, apparently things are funny when you're dying.
"Oh...I love you." He mumbled, nestling further into her warm body.
"I love you too." The girl replied.
Garr looked up from the body count when he heard Rutee yell. He swore he had seen her look at him when she had finished with her fight, then she had disappeared. Why was that again? He couldn't remember-ah! Yes! Someone had screamed, that was it! But who was it? He pondered the thought as he walked quickly over to where he had heard her yell from, the others making their own way over.
Who screamed like that? It was so familiar; he had heard it plenty of times before, but now he just couldn't remember! It was-it was-it was Stahn! YES! But...why would Stahn yell like that? With a sudden impending fear entering his gut he walked even quicker, ignoring Chelsea's protests from behind him. When he had made it over he saw the others huddled around Rutee and lying in her lap was Stahn. He gave his friend a once over.
His head was banged up pretty bad and was bleeding in several spots and his mouth was dripping blood. He looked down further and gagged. A large pool of red was surrounding both he and Rutee. Blood was seeping from Stahn's wound and curdling the green grass. Gulping he knelt beside his friend and took his hand.
"You okay, buddy?" He asked, receiving an odd look.
"What do you think?" Came the slightly peeved response.
Opening his mouth no words came out and the king was forced to just shake his head. Stahn let out a small snort of amusement.
"It's not so bad, it...doesn't really hurt much. It's just...cold. Very cold."
A slight glaze had formed in the boy's bright blue eyes, dulling them to a dark gray color. The purple-eyed girl hugged him closer to her body as she cried. He smiled and started up again.
"I-I just wanted to say I'll miss you all and- and I love you. All of you."
He took one last look at all of his friends, some weeping and others putting on a strong front.
"I'll be watching, I swear. Please-remember me. Remember me...re-mem...ber......"
Stahn's head rolled back slightly, pre formed tears falling partially. Rutee shook him gently, repeating his name over and over. The others looked away at this slightly pathetic action; afraid to believe he was really gone. In anguish the young woman let out a cry of great magnitude and collapsed on her dead lover's body.
Rutee gently stroked the side of her love's pale cheek. Gently she kissed his still warm lips then ran a hand over his eyes to close them. Standing she looked at the others.
"He's gone." She stated.
Everyone looked at her, already knowing that fact very well. Taking in the silence she looked around at everyone, fighting their caving facades. Even Leon was turning pink from welling tears. Chelsea clung to Garr's leg and Mary was holding her ax close as if it were a small child.
"H-hey!" Leon's voice cracked as he spoke. "Why don't we just use a life bottle?"
There was a small pause, then everyone's faces lit up with new hope.
"That's a great idea, Leon!" Rutee cried.
Taking the compliment with a smile the young raven hair boy got to his knees and began to rummage through his brown sack until he felt the familiar engravings of the life bottle. Pulling it out he looked at the blue liquid with wonder.
"Here." He said, passing it to his sister with great gentleness.
Taking it the young woman smiled and let out a strange laugh.
"Uh- Rutee?" Atwight spoke to her young master. "Uh, I think there's something you need to know. Rutee, are you listening?"
"Hush, Atwight! Can't you see I'm in the middle of something?"
With a mental cringe they all felt the sword remained silent as the girl knelt down and parted the blonde's lips. Careful not to move him too much she elevated his head so the liquid would go down his throat. When the bottle was empty she cautiously put it down and waited by her dear's side. And waited. And waited.
"It's not working!" She cried in near hysterics.
"Damn vender, I knew he was no good!" Mary fumed, picking up her ax.
"I tried to tell you...," A weak voice said.
With a loud growl the sword woman pulled Atwight from her side and looked at her accusingly.
"What did you try to tell me?!"
"You can't bring him back to life with a life bottle." Was the short reply.
"Fine! You know a resurrection spell, we'll use that!"
"That won't work either."
"Why not?!" The girl demanded.
The female sword sighed and explained. "There is a specific point when one cannot be brought back to life by magic or science or whatever it is you try. The gods laid down some sort of rule, so to say, that makes it so one can only be brought back so many times. Now its useless to try to bring Stahn back."
Rutee let out a disbelieving sound, then fell to her knees in tears. All hope was crushed and others began to let out cries and shed tears, even stoic Garr and Leon had a few tears to spare. Just as Rutee was about to curse the gods Dymlos interjected quietly.
"But what about the Trials of Atomoni?"
There was a pause.
"The what?' Leon asked, not at all amused by anything that had just been said or done.
"The trials of Atomoni. It's a way to bring Stahn back!"
"It is?!" Rutee asked with renewed vigor.
"No, its not! Dymlos, don't pollute their minds with myths!"
"It's not a myth!" the other sword bellowed with anger. "I know it's true! And, besides, who said you had to come, any ways?!"
There was a strange silence, then Garr broke it by clearing his throat.
"Dymlos, explain what these 'trials' are." He inquired.
The fire sword grumbled a bit but complied. "The trials of Atomoni are a pilgrimage, I suppose you could say. Those with faith will be guided to find four crystals, each representing the directions the tribes of the E'rthers went in after the Aeth'er wars. When the four crystals are found they must be taken to the hidden temple of the goddess and when placed in their respective spots the goddess herself will come forward to grant the adventurer a single wish. In our case that wish would be to bring blondie back to life, but we'll have to start now, we only have seven days."
"Seven days? Why so short a time?" Philia asked.
"This is a matter of restoring life. Dead bodies don't stay fresh for long. It says in the legend that the only way the gift of life will be restored is if the crystals are brought together before seven days are up and then even after she grants the wish the dead will need to be 'bathed in the light of love and god'. What ever that means."
"What ever that means?" Atwight scoffed. "If we don't know what it means why bother looking for it any ways?"
"Because he was my master!" Dymlos screamed. He had an awful temper for a synthetic object. "I grew quite attached to the little idiot, Atwight, and I can say he became somewhat of a son to me! I care about him and I care about bringing him back to life! If you don't then I think its best you just step off here!"
"Well excuse me, mister high and mighty, I just don't want my master to die as well! Then where would either of us be?!"
The humans in the group remained quiet as the swords had a 'stare down'. Between screaming swords with magical powers and the fact that there were two of them no one wanted to get in the middle of it. Finally Dymlos let out a long sorrowful sigh.
"I understand what you're saying, Atwight, but I-I need my master. What's the point of me being here if I don't have anyone to belong too?"
Again there was a silence.
"Look here, both of you." Clemente said. "We're going to go look for this 'goddess trial' and we're going to do it as a team. No one will get hurt so long as we're here to protect them. Now, cut it out, both of you and lets get this show on the road. We have seven days starting now so lets not waste them."
And that was that.
"Yeah, lets bring Stahn back. This could be fun." Chelsea said cheerfully.
"I have nothing better to do." Leon mumbled.
"I always have time for a friend in need." Garr replied.
"Me too." Mary echoed.
"That's great, you guys. But what about Stahn? Do we bring him along with us?" Rutee asked.
"I'd say no." The fire swordian spoke up.
"Why not?" She asked.
"He'll be safer if we take him back to his town. And besides, he may start to smell and who needs that?"
"Dymlos!" Igtenos chastised.
There was a small laugh and a grunt from the female sword. Taking the initiative Garr stooped and picked his friend's body up.
"I'd say we should start heading to Fitzgald now and on the way discuss which way to head. I don't know about you but I'm not looking forward to what his family and the towns people have to say about all of this."
A mental agreement was reached and they all started back to the Draconis. Rutee watched as her love's hand swayed lifelessly at his side. Burying her pain inside she convinced herself that it would only be a matter of time before she and Stahn would be reunited and then...then they would be married, just like she'd always dreamed of. And who knew? Maybe they would even have a few kids of their own.
TBC
I suddenly got my ToD inspiration back, don't know exactly why, so I decided to dig up an old story I tried to write and redo it so it was better. Much better. I may not be able to update all the time but with summer so close I'll have time then. And yes, this is slightly AU, as Leon and the swordians are still alive. Any ways, from here it's on to Liennea and off to find the crystals. Will the forces of friendship and love be enough to bring Stahn back or will it be too late? I haven't decided yet. Come back next chapter to see what happens.