"I suppose we had better begin Alan," Gaira said once they were out of the castle.
"Yeah. Do you want to call one since you never did," Alan asked.
Gaira chuckled, "With my luck, I'll get someone useless. No Alan, you pull our trump. Lightning does strike twice."
"I hope so," Alan mumbled before he put on the Gatekeeper Clown ἅrm and activated the dagger ἅrm.
Just as he was about to break the seal, he saw Alviss rush out. He stopped what he was doing and greeted the young man.
"How's Dorothy?" Alan asked.
Alviss looked worried but said, "She'll be fine. The princess took it upon herself to heal her with the Healing Angel ἅrm."
"Understandable since she is Snow's aunt," Gaira rubbed his chin.
Alviss quickly changed the subject, "Were you about to call the Otherworlder?"
Both men nodded and Alviss put in, "Before that though, we have a more pressing matter. Babbo."
Babbo was Mἅr heaven's most dangerous ἅrm. In the right hands, anyone can be nigh invincible. Yet if it were to fall into the wrong hands, another "Phantom" may appear. Phantom was one of the greatest threats Mἅr heaven ever saw. He used Babbo in the first War Games and nearly delivered victory to the ruthless Chess Pieces. Now it was living in some village with its only descendant.
In Babbo's past life, he was a Caldian elder. His soul was "downloaded" into a metal sphere which now carried the personality of the former man. As of late, he had met with his son Kai and survived another battle. Alviss was reluctant to call the veteran back into the fray but the limitless powers Babbo contained were far too powerful to let him run free with the chance of being controlled by some dark force.
"You have a point. The three of us should search for him before-" Gaira said thoughtfully.
Alviss cut him off, "I know where he is but I am reluctant to ask him to do anything more."
"We understand how you feel Alviss but remember this war is going to affect him the most. For better and worse he is still an ἅrm. If Caldia wins, then he will have to return to Caldia without any of us," Alan pointed out.
"Without his son," Alviss murmured.
"That is the crux of the matter. Will Babbo fight with us or will he be content with watching how this will all play out?" Gaira pondered.
Alviss looked determined, "We have to try."
"Yes. Asking wouldn't hurt," Gaira put in.
Alan looked at his two companions, "Then we'll hold off on the summoning. For now, Andata, take us to Harnau, to Babbo."
With a flash of light, the Andata ἅrm transported them to Harnau. In this village, they saw the hustle and bustle small towns have. People were moving to and fro with no regards to the three newcomers. As the three walked closer to the residence of Babbo's son Kai, they saw the infamous statue dedicated to Ginta and Babbo. Part of Alviss wanted to gag every time he saw the statue.
When they reached the house, Alan knocked sharply. The door opened without any resistance and the three went in immediately. This was not a good sign. They quickly split up and searched the house. As Gaira's luck would have it, he discovered a body. He hurried to it and called for Alan and Alviss.
When the three reconvened, Gaira held up the body of Kai. He wasn't dead but he wasn't moving either. Alan ordered the others to go on ahead and return to Lestava and get some help for Kai. He would search for the assailants and Babbo.
Alviss quickly transferred the three to Lestava. Once they arrived he shouted for healers. Moments later, three healers arrived and began emergency procedures. One checked for injuries while another started using a healing ἅrm. The last one was trying to get information out of Gaira and Alviss to no avail. Neither knew anything after all. The last healer went to work healing some of the lacerations the first healer uncovered.
Before long, they declared Kai would live but he still required medical attention. This was not good news. They were hoping to add Kai's strength to their forces but now, his life took priority.
Hours later, Kai woke up. He had a fit before the healers were able to sedate him. While sedated, Alviss was able to question him about what happened. All he got was "the place where God fell." That was enough of a hint for Alviss who was part of the battle a year earlier with the fake Guardians. He quickly used Andata and arrived at the scene where Kai's battle ended.
A year ago, there was a man who desired to be God. He created an ark using the life energy of countless innocents. Kai along with several others were able to stop him. The place where the he was killed was where Kai and Babbo were supposed to meet after the sudden attack.
Alviss departed immediately but there was no need to rush. When he got there, the battle was already over. There were three bodies near Babbo and him.
"You're late," Alan said as Alviss approached.
"My apologies. I was tending to Kai," Alviss said.
Babbo had a worried look on his face, "How is he?"
Alviss looked sympathetic, "He's in a coma but he will live."
Babbo heaved a sigh of relief and started crying, "Oh thank goodness. I was worried about the dear boy."
Leaving Babbo to his crying, Alviss asked Alan what happened. Alan repeated what Babbo had told him.
They were suddenly attacked out of the blue by three Caldians. They demanded that Babbo return with them. Kai tried to fight them off but Greda, his "partner, was there. Not wanting her hurt, he asked his father to run away with Greda and to meet him later at that place. Armed with nothing but a sword, he held off the pursuers long enough for Babbo to escape with Greda.
"So where is she now?" Alviss asked.
Alan took a deep drag of his cigar, "I just sent her to Lestava. But we have a bigger concern now."
"Babbo won't fight with us?" Alviss said worriedly.
Alan shook his head, "He will. That is not the problem though."
"Then what?" Alviss asked.
Now Babbo spoke up, "The Chess Pieces are back or what's left of them anyways."
Alviss looked unsettled, "How?"
"'You see these bodies right? They're dead. The one who killed them was Rolan. He's mad Alviss, genuinely mad. And he's out for revenge," Alan coughed.
"Not now!" Alviss gritted his teeth. Their problems were getting out of hand.
"And he's not alone. At least five others were with him according to Babbo. No doubt, they are going to participate in the next War Games," Alan sighed.
"Then we need to call the Otherworlder now before we lose even more time," Babbo said.
Let's go back to Lestava first. I'm sure you want to see your son first right Babbo?" Alan looked to Babbo.
"That would be nice," Babbo said wistfully.
Alan nodded and transported them all to Lestava. It was now time to call the Otherworlder.
Yeah. Some familiar faces are going to show up. And they still need to use the gatekeeper clown. All that and more in the next... few chapters. Let me know what you think so far.
