Well, I'm back.
Welcome to "Twilight" the sequel to "The Awakening" and the final arc in the plotline of the return of the Keepers of Mana. I'm very excited about this new story since now that the Keepers are awakened they will face new perils as they continue to regain their power and figure out who is behind the sinister plot to stop them.
For those of you who've been with me since "Magic: The Gathering vs. Yu-Gi-Oh!" or "The Awakening", welcome back! I hope you find this story up to par with its prequels, perhaps even superior. For those of you joining me, welcome aboard! You're in for a Hell of a ride. Since a lot has happened over the past two stories, let me bring you up to speed.
Millions of years ago, five very powerful summoners existed. They were called the Keepers of Mana and each controlled one of the five colors of mana. A fight broke out, which turned into a war and all the Keepers died. Flash forwards a couple million years: A young man named Arrathir Quinn stumbles upon an alternate dimension and discovers he is the reincarnation of the black Keeper and he must awaken the other four. After many trials and duels, he finally manages to awaken the five Keepers, but the Keeper of White Mana, Chihowaido, is persuaded the Keeper of Black Mana, Chikuro, wants to kill all the other Keepers, so he leaves the group and joins with another Planeswalker to stop Chikuro.
This is a bare-bones version of the story. If you want to get all the details, go ahead and read the two prequels.
You're probably all tired of hearing me yapping, so I'll leave you with a definition:
twi-light
1.
a. The diffused light from the sky during the early evening or
early morning when the sun is below the horizon and its light is
refracted by the earth's atmosphere.
b. The time of the day when the sun is
just below the horizon, especially the period between sunset and
dark.
2. Dim or diffused illumination.
3. A period or condition of decline
following growth, glory, or success: in the twilight of his life.
4. A state of ambiguity or obscurity.
Source: Thefreedictionary
And now, on with the fic.
-Arrathir
I do not own Magic: The Gathering, only my own characters.
CHAPTER 1-Turning the Page
The Multiverse is changing. I have felt the mana shift again. As the Keepers complete their awakening, we draw closer to universal equilibrium. This brings me hope and I have faith the Keepers will succeed in their quest before it is too late.
Hang in there, Keepers of Mana. You can do it!
As the mana of the Multiverse gets ever so closer to equilibrium,
I can't help but feel anxious. If not for the unexpected and
pleasantly surprising turn of events, this probably would have
already come to pass. The success or failure of the entire plan
depends on him.
If I fail, they'll be no living with her after this.
Shiv: a small continent northeast of Jamuraa, the supercontinent of
Dominaria, the central planet of the Dominia plane. Shiv was home to
some of the most fascinating, but dangerous creatures of the planet.
The tribal lizards-folk known as the Viashino hailed from Shiv. At some point in history, some viashino had migrated to Jamuraa, but all those who knew of the Viashino associated them with Shiv. As well, Shiv wasn't nicknamed 'The land of dragons' for nothing. The Shivan Dragons and their cousins, the Viashivan Dragons inhabited the rocky mountains of Shiv. Powerful and ruthless, theses creatures ruled over their territory and brought swift and brutal justice upon those who would dare trespass on their land.
In the heart of the Shivan Cordillera, a massive mountain range that cut through the desert, existed a valley surrounded by tall peaks. By an inconceivable improbability, the valley was filled with a lush forest; an oasis in this otherwise dry and rocky desert.
In general, humans tended to avoid Shiv, first because the continent was set in a deep-ocean ring of fire that fuelled the coastal water to a near-boiling point.
Few apart from the Viashino knew how to navigate these treacherous waters. Next, Shiv was far from hospitable, what with the heat, dragons, and Viashino raiders. However, the four figures seated around the flickering light of a campfire under the canopy of trees in the valley were far from ordinary humans.
Two of them looked human in appearance, but there the resemblance stopped. The first, a tall man with fire-red hair and a beard could, at a moment's notice, transform himself into an enormous wurm, capable of toppling over a tree with a swipe of its powerful tail. He wore a leather breastplate and had wrapped his forest-green cloak around him for protection against the night air. His blue eyes had the tired look of one who has seen many battles, but still held a spark of life within them.
"So, tell me more about these weapons you created from mana," asked Khell Dracos.
"I honestly have no idea how I created mine," said one of the other figures. The speaker was a young woman with shoulder-length brown hair. Two black-tipped, brown fox's ears were perched on top of her head, a telltale sign of her half-demon blood. They twitched every now and then, responding to changes in the air and sounds. A brown fox's tail poked out of a slit in the back of her dress and was curled around to rest on the woman's lap, warming her hands. "They just appeared out of nowhere," continued Eva Pezrokov.
"The demon was in control when he created mine," said another figure. He appeared to be a man in his early 20's, the most noticeable oddity being a pair of gray rat's ears where a normal human's ears would be. A thin rat's tail hung behind him, twitching occasionally. "What kind of weapon did I have again?"
"I've told you a dozen time, Arrathir!" said Eva "A kusari-gama!"
"Oh yeah," said Arrathir Quinn "Cool."
"You think it's 'cool' to get beaned by an iron weight?" yelled the kitsune, her green eyes flaring "Well, why didn't you say so? Give me a second and I'll uproot a tree to bash you around with! It's not iron, but it'll do the trick!" She jumped at Arrathir, intending to punch him in the face.
"Whoa! Calm down, Eva!" yelled the Keeper of Black Mana, dodging the punch "I just meant the kusari-gama was an interesting weapon!" He was cut off as Eva caught him in the jaw with a solid uppercut.
"Charles," said Khell, hoping to change the subject before Eva killed Arrathir "Does Chiburuu know anything about this?"
Charles Wainscott was brought back to reality by the question. He blinked, gathering his thoughts. He was fairly tall, just over six feet, with short brown hair. His otherwise human appearance was slightly altered by his disfigured teeth; his abnormally large canines making him look like a vampire. Behind his blue eyes hid incredible power; the ability to alter the very flow of time and to create illusions indistinguishable from reality.
"Only bits and pieces," he answered, "He's currently searching through his memories for any information that might help us."
"We'll have to wait on this," said Khell "The pressing issue now is: what do we do about Chihowaido?"
"More pressing," said Eva "Is that we need to get more firewood. I'll go."
"I'll come with you," offered Charles as she got up "It'll go faster and that way we can bring back more," he added. Eva raised an interrogative eyebrow at Arrathir who merely nodded in approval. The two Keepers set off into the woods, quickly disappearing in the gloom.
"What was that all about?" Khell asked Arrathir.
"Charles is going to pour his heart out to Eva, methinks," said the black Keeper.
"I thought she was with you," frowned Khell.
"Well, Charles is in love with her as well, but he has trouble acknowledging she'll just see him as a friend. If he tells her how he feels, he'll get in out of his system and will be able to move on."
"Aren't you angry at him for kissing Eva?" asked Khell.
"A bit," said Arrathir "But I sympathize with him. Unrequited love is a bitch. Trust me, the best way from him to get over her is to spill his guts, she'll tell him she just likes him as a friend, Bob's your uncle, Fanny's your aunt; he feels better and stops pining after her whilst knowing he can never have her."
"All right, Charles," said Eva as soon as they were out of earshot "What do you have to tell me?"
"Was it that obvious?"
"Rather," said Eva.
"OK," said Charles "I want to apologize for the kiss, I shouldn't have done it. I should have seen that you had no romantic interest in me. I just wasn't in control, I couldn't help myself; I love you, Eva."
The Keeper of Red Mana was taken aback. The kiss had told her Charles was interested in her, but she had no idea his feelings for her ran so deep.
"Any man would be in heaven with you, Eva," said Charles "You're beautiful, intelligent, and have a great personality. I can't deny the way I feel about you." Charles making a slight pause to collect himself, "I know you don't feel the same about me, I'm glad you and Arrathir are together, because, it makes you happy and that's all I could ever wish for: you being happy. Even if it means I have to feel this sadness every time I see you and Arrathir together." As Charles finished his speech, his breath caught in his throat and he hung his head to meet his uprising palms, trying to hide the tears streaming down his face.
Eva didn't know how to react. Part of her wanted to embrace Charles and comfort him. He just seemed so miserable, yet he wasn't angry with her for choosing Arrathir over him. In a way, he had chosen to be miserable just so she could be happy. This was probably one of the nicest things anyone had done for her.
"Hey," she said, putting two fingers under the Keeper's chin and lifting his head so he was looking at her "I really admire your courage. It took some guts to tell me all that, and for that, I respect you a lot. Also, sacrificing your own happiness to ensure mine proves you really do love me, and I'm extremely grateful to have such a great friend as you. You've been very good to me, Charles; helping me through my grief after Arrathir's 'death' and in a sense, taking over as my unofficial protector while he was gone. I can't thank you enough for all you've done." Perching herself on her toes, Eva gave Charles a kiss on the cheek. "Consider that a small token of my gratitude," she added "I'll always consider you as sort of the older brother I never had."
"Why are you so good to me?" asked Charles, in shock "I don't deserve to be loved by a woman like you."
"Everyone deserves to be loved," said Eva "I'm positive you'll find your soul mate one day, and when you do, she'll be a lucky woman to have such a compassionate and romantic man as you. Now come on," she added with a smile "Let's gather some firewood."
To be continued…
Author's Note: Think I took enough of your time with the intro, so no Author's Note here.
