Life Aspect: Welcome back! We've kept the death aspect locked in a cage while writing this, so it should make more sense than the last chapter.
Umm… actually, you might want to be careful. He got out.
Life Aspect: What? Oh crap…
Death Aspect: Don't worry; I'll let you finish this chapter. But be warned, my eventual revenge will be swift and brutal.
Sigh. Anyway, despite my death aspect's efforts, I still don't own Baten Kaitos, Namco, or any affiliates. I am just borrowing their storylines for a while. I'll give them back eventually. Enjoy…
"Is not possible." said the Great Mizuti definitively. "Even the Great Mizuti can not make spirit magic Magnus without a spirit."
"I know, I know…" Kalas was still in a state of shock.
"Well, we ain't gonna figure this out just sitting around here" Said Gibari from where he was, leaning against the far wall.
"We have to wait for Savyna and Lyude to show up." Xhella reminded him.
The room that the four of them were in was part of the new imperial palace of Alafard. As the new prime minister, Lyude had enacted sweeping reforms in the way the people of the country were treated. Although he had intended to step down soon afterward, the people would not allow it. They insisted that he stay and rule, and refused his request to move out of the old palace. Even though the place still had a somewhat mechanical feel to it, it was much warmer now than on their first visit, over three years prior. The mechanical sentries had been replaced with statues of those who had died in the final battle with the forces of darkness, and security was limited to a few very loyal guards. Most of the lower floors were still used to house refugees from the old slave mining towns, but for the most part, those people had recovered and returned to work. Unlike Geldoblame, Lyude was well liked even by them, and as such they worked harder than ever to mine the Iron needed to help with the continuing rebuilding efforts.
"Well, what's taking them so long?" Gibari grumbled impatiently. "I mean, I was in the middle of the damn ocean and I got here faster than the guy that lives here."
"Gibari, be nice…" said Xhella with a sigh, she knew that he was just being himself, but he did have a point.
"Lyude say that he is going to try to find Savyna." offered Mizuti. "The Great Mizuti says that she can do it with her magic, but Lyude not want me to. He said that he could find Savyna on his own."
"And so I have" said a voice from the doorway. Everyone turned to see Lyude walking into the room, flanked closely by Savyna. He was wearing his old military uniform, slightly embellished to show his status. Savyna was also wearing her older clothing, and Kalas could see that she carried her deck of Magnus cards.
'In fact,' thought Kalas, 'everyone is wearing exactly what they were when I first met them all that time ago. Even Mizuti is wearing her mask again… It kind of makes me miss the battles we used to have…'
His thoughts were cut off as Lyude spoke again. "Before you start asking, No, I will not tell you where I found her. She has asked me to respect her privacy." The group seemed to nod as one, and only Gibari muttered something playful under his breath. Savyna glared at him for a second with murder in her eyes, and he shut up quickly. Lyude continued. "So, now that we're all here, let's start at the beginning."
Kalas took a deep breath and began in. "Well you all knew about my guardian spirit, Haru. We never could have defeated Malpercio without him. And he still believed in me when I…" Kalas paused, not wanting to meet the eyes of his companions. "Anyway, when Haru was bonded with me or Xhella, he could sometime loan us some of his power. He could change one or more of our Magnus into really powerful elemental effects. The stronger our bond got, the more of his power I could call on."
"Wait, go back for a second," interrupted Gibari. "I saw you two doing that stuff sometimes, and it was awesome and all, but what do you mean he replaced your Magnus?"
"Well, I'm not sure I can explain…"
Mizuti piped up, "Great Mizuti will tell then. Children of the earth have done much researching. Studying. Looking stuff up."
"Go ahead then, Great Mizuti," said Kalas, sitting back down.
"Well, a guardian spirit is the essence of a being from a higher plane of reality. When it bonds, it uses you as almost a living Magnus. Spirit goes into you and stays there, along with you. If the spirit likes you, it can put itself in other places too."
"Hmm? What do you mean by that?" asked Savyna, the first words that she had spoken since entering.
"When the spirit is in you," continued Mizuti, "you are still mostly you with a little spirit. If you have a strong bond, then the spirit can put part of itself into a Magnus that already has something in it. Then the spirit and the item are both in the Magnus, like the spirit and you are both in you. The Magnus is then mostly spirit with a little other stuff. The Magnus will change to show this. Then you release the part of the spirit as a great spell. If the bond with the spirit is weak, then it is hard for it to return to the host body. The stronger the bond, the more of the spirit can be put into the Magnus and the stronger the spell. When the spirit goes back into you, the Magnus returns to normal."
"So in order for this spell to be here…" Xhella started.
Kalas finished the thought for her. "Part of Haru must be trapped in this card."
The group sat in stunned silence for a moment before Lyude spoke up. "So Kalas, have you actually tried using this card yet? In an actual battle?"
"No, I came straight here when we found this"
"Well what are we waiting for? Kalas, you and I are overdue for a sparring match, right?" Gibari had stood up completely and grabbed his paddle-blade. "Let's get going."
Savyna was about to make a rather rude remark about the stupidity of this suggestion, but she was cut off by Lyude's laugh. "That won't be necessary. We can accommodate you at our training grounds."
"Training grounds?" asked Xhella, surprised "I thought you disliked having an army."
"Well, yes, but when the world was in peril we were unprepared. That will not happen again." Lyude seemed uncharacteristically sure of himself. "I don't want to rule through military might, but I must protect the people of Alafard."
"Let's go!" shouted Gibari as he rushed out of the room, almost knocking over a pair of guards who were outside the door. Sighing as one, the rest of the group followed him.
Moments later, they stood outside in a large, flat area flanked by small metal storage units. One such unit was currently open, and a pair of servants was wheeling out one of the old sentry-bots. Kalas stood in the middle of the training grounds, adjusting his winglet. "Why do you still wear that thing?" Gibari asked. "We can't fly anymore, and you wouldn't even be able to open it without falling over."
"I know," replied Kalas, "but I spent so long with one, it seems odd not to wear it. It's comfortable, somehow. Familiar."
Lyude interrupted their conversation, saying that the training area was set up. "Now, once I activate this thing, it will really be trying to hurt you," he told Kalas. "I've set it to the highest alert level, so be careful."
Kalas grinned. "I can handle myself. I just hope you don't mind losing a training bot." Lyude smiled back and then he and the others moved to the side of the area, out of the way of combat. The servants did likewise. Lyude signaled to Kalas that he was starting, and then pressed a small button on a remote that he held.
Immediately, the machine sprung to life. It quickly scanned the arena, and then settled its receptors on Kalas. Kalas drew his swords, picked up a few cards, and charged. He chose some weaker attacks just to warm up with. His blades, charged with the energy of his Magnus, left several gashes in the sentry's metallic exterior. The machine responded with several strikes, but Kalas was able to deflect most of the damage with a few hastily summoned shields. "I'm goin' for it!" he yelled to the group, who all gave him a thumbs-up. Kalas again charged, this time choosing stronger attacks. A few shots from his Dimension Blade and Apocalypse Sword left the machine in pretty bad shape. Kalas leapt back and prepared his spirit card.
"I am time, hear my voice!" Kalas called out the familiar incantation as he held up the Magnus. "Spirit Magic: LINGERING TIME!"
The air around the damaged sentry began to swirl and distort. Shards of green energy sprung out of empty space and wrapped themselves into a sphere around the area. These began to spin, faster and faster, and then suddenly froze. For an instant, time stood still around the robot. Then the fabric of reality crashed back in with a rush of sound and green light. The shards became blades of time as they crushed together. The chronal overload finished the robot. One of its arms flew completely off, its circuitry fried, and the majority of its exterior corroded instantly. It collapsed into a heap of scrap metal.
"Well, that was overkill," commented Gibari from the sidelines. Kalas didn't move. "Kalas…?" Gibari started.
"Wha…?" Kalas started to speak, but then stopped. His body collapsed to the ground. His eyes remained open, and his face showed a frozen expression of confusion and shock. Xhella screamed.
"Kalas!"
Kalas felt an incredible rush of energy as he unleashed the magic of the card, then a very strange sensation as the spell finished. It was a feeling that he had had once before, a long time ago, when his brother Fee had sacrificed himself in order to give Kalas his spark of life. Kalas was unaware of it at the time, but Fee had also passed on the secret to immortality in that moment. This feeling that Kalas had now was similar to that, yet different. It was as if the entire life energy of another was forcibly entering his body. His vision faded, but this feeling remained, infusing every fiber of his being and leaving him with a dull tingle all over his body. The sensation grew less and less intense, and then stopped altogether.
Kalas was aware of a floating sensation. He still couldn't see, but he could feel the void around him. There was only himself and one other thing here. It was not a physical object, but more of a formless consciousness. Kalas cold feel it moving towards him, and him moving towards it. It felt very comfortable, and very, very familiar. "Haru?" Kalas asked into the darkness.
"Kalas?" came the reply, not out loud, but as an ethereal voice in the back of his mind.
"Where are we?" asked Kalas.
"I don't know"
"Why are we here?"
"Because we need to be."
"Why?"
There was a long pause. Finally, the spirit's reply came, and Kalas got a definite sense of worry from the tone. "I can't remember. We have to do something. Something important. But I can't remember what."
Kalas felt himself and his spirit moving. He still couldn't see, but he had the feeling that the two of them were rushing towards something. "Haru?"
"Yes?"
Kalas didn't know whether or not the spirit could see him, but he still smiled confidently. Wherever they were going, Kalas wanted to be ready. "Lets go!"
So, now is the time for much reviewage. I promise future chapters will be more action, but I felt the explanations would become key to the future storylines, so I had to do them.
Life Aspect: Yeah, we gotta keep the readers up to date on what's going on. Otherwise they might stop reading.
Death Aspect: Nah, they want action! I'm gonna be helping to write the next few chapters, so there'll be plenty to go around.
Life Aspect: Make sure I read it over before you post it. I need to make sure you weren't being too… well you know…
Death Aspect: Wait, what's that supposed to mean. Hey! Get back here!
Sigh. Well, I'll try to post regularly whenever possible, and I hope you keepreading and reviewing. (Please Review. Please…)