You'll finally see some action! And now I present to you ,[somewhere in the chapter] my battle scenes! This is my style of writing and describing battles, usually by strategy. Please review on what you think. Constructive criticism is greatly appreaciated.
By the way, I changed a little bit of the story here.
A bit of warning: This chapter has somewhat bad language here, hehe. Viewer discretion, I guess?
Demons With Arches
Chapter 3 – Ending up at the Start
by Rieszeye
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It wasn't until morning that Hawk had realized he had finally been able to have a peaceful rest- free from all his worries, problems and injuries from Carlie. That feeling, of course, subsided once he had gone back to consciousness. He had clearly forgotten that the real world wasn't what it was like in his slumber dreams, and that those problems would always come to haunt you back, much like Carlie. After a brief moment, he sighed at the realisation that he wouldn't be able to rest that much from today onwards. Back at Navarre, he was used to waking up with that excitement of what he was going to steal, er.. do at that morning. Things weren't that similar here. The thief's eyes wandered the room starting from the ceiling onto Angela's still-sleeping body and onto an empty bed. Wait, empty bed?
"What the hell! Where's Riesz?" Hawk popped out of his covers. With a tired yawn, Angela managed to pull herself up, not looking the least bit pleased. "Do I care..?" she said, tryed her best to put emotion in her voice. What time did she come back from weapon shopping yesterday anyway? "Hey, the Fairy's gone too.." she added. Maybe it was Riesz's time to go shopping with the Fairy. Other than that, she really didn't have a use anyway, so she might as well look over their safety. "I'm going to go look for her." Hawk announced, wearing his shoes and halway through the door. There's a huge possibilty that she's shopping, but there's also that small possibility that she's been held hostage by the demonic Wendel citizens. They've seen Carlie, right? And not to mention the Priest, who knows what kind of people live here?
"Hey, don't leave me here!" Angela put on her 'pity me' expression. She naturally had to go with the thief so they again payed the innkeeper their thanks and headed outside. Wendel was still the same holy place as yesterday, that's for sure.
After agreeing to visit the armor shop first, they entered just to be greeted by.. oh, great.
"NOOO! NO! WHY IS SHE HERE..?" Angela brutally grabbed Hawk by the shoulders and pushed him in front of her.
"Hey, can you be a bit more gent- hi there, Carlie!" Hawk greeted with a pat on the little girl's head. She found it quite soothing and therefore ended up hugging the thief's right leg.
"Hey, that's not your scratching post, you little demon!" Angela thought twice about grabbing her after what happened to Hawk yesterday.
Why on earth was she here, again? Angela finally had the night of her life yesterday when it had left.. but she was most certain that that abomination wouldn't leave her alone for the rest of her life.. especially after what the Fairy had said the day before. She surely hoped that butterfly really hadn't meant the fact that they'd let.. her.. join the team. At least let her be the least bit comfortable while saving the world! Oh, and her LIFE while she was at it.
"Carlie found other blonde lady and butterfly here so now I look for you!" she explained, continuing to embrace the thief's leg.
Crap, what did she do with THEM? It's not like this little thing could be capable of doing such bad things, but if she were capable of doing such a thing to Hawk, they'd better think again. Didn't the Fairy say something about her being the Priest's granddaughter or something? It's not surprising that two annoying people would be related to each other. Or maybe Wendel people really are like this everyday.
"You were looking for us?" Hawk questioned, pushing her away as gently as possible.
"Well now you found us!" Angela fake-smiled. "Now you can go back to your weird grandfather and LEAVE US ALONE, PLEASE?" Hawk walked back a few steps towards the princess.
"Hey, I'm sure even she could understand that if you put emphasis on those last words!" So much for acting. The two watched closely as the little girl's eyes began to swell and produce tears. Oh no.
"WAA-" Thankfully Hawk was able to swiftly cover her mouth with one hand and stop her other hand from swinging that ball and chain. For the love of goddess, THAT was still there..?"Carlie just wanna go with you! Other lady and butterfly already say yes!"
"Come again..?" Angela pushed Hawk back as she creeped up nearer and nearer to the girl. Well, this scene is a lot more terrifying than when Carlie scratched Hawk. Who knows what she could do?
Wait, let's backtrack. The Fairy said this wouldn't be the last time they'd see this monster and suggested to have her along for her healing purposes... they didn't think she MEANT that! They simply thought it was a form of teasing due to the Fairy's knowledge that they extremely HATE this.. girl, and now she delightfully said yes? Alright, the Fairy was one thing, but Riesz? There's no way she could've accepted the fact that Carlie would be going with them unless she were possessed.
"There's no way they allowed you to come," Angela was two inches away from hitting her with her staff until she heard another familiar voice.
"Actually, we did." Riesz emerged from the trees with the Fairy. Oh, they were going to get it.
Hawk ran up to Riesz. "You know how much she'll be a nuisance, right? What were you thinking?" he whispered. Fortunately, he got rid of that depressed expression from yesterday night.
"Think of how helpful a HEALER is..! I mean, where do you see those these days, right? I know Angela hates the girl to the bone but this is mandatory! She has her own problems and asked if she could come along so her wish would come true. It's hard to resist that kind of offer, even if she can be a prick sometimes."
Sometimes?
"Well, Angela and I disapprove." He had hoped that wouldn't hurt her again.
"Well, it's two against two," the Fairy spoke. "How should we beat the ti-"
"TWO AGAINST TWO, MY ASS." Angela started panting from running all the way from the armor shop. "It's two against one and a half, so we win!" Unless, the Fairy counts as one whole person. Does she?
"HEY! Listen, just imagine how useful a healer can be! You don't have to worry about injuries slowing you down, right?" the Fairy shouted.
They can all agree that having a healer would give them all an advantage, but if the healer constantly kills you inside, what's the advantage in that? Normally, Riesz would just want what's best for the team, or what she THINKS is best for the team. The Fairy obviously just wants life to be easy. And Hawk and Angela.. what do they want? Peace. But they can't forget the task at hand. Even if her joining the team will just ruin the chances of the team EVER finding peace, she will lighten the burdens of the future and make having to be with her... shorter.
"Fine, I guess." Hawk stood up.
"YAAAAAAAAY!" Carlie cheered.
"Erm.. okay, fine! Get that demon in our group. Just remember, if she ends up killing us all, don't come blaming it on me! But hey, I thought you said only three people can-"
"Screw the rules," the Fairy spat.
Wow. Who knew a Fairy sent by the Goddess of all people could do something like that, let alone say it. "Alright, now that that's decided, we don't have that much time, I hope we could at least find Wisp before nighttime. Who knows how long it'll take us to get to him."
The other four nodded as they finally made their way once more to the infamous Cave of Waterfalls where they had came from. Whoopty-doo, they were once again greeted by zombies, bats and all the rest. They were poisoned countless times and had to rely on Carlie to cure them. To their surprise, that little demon was actually capable of summoning what seemed like Machine Golems – these weird things that were rumored to be a pain in the butt. And as if this couldn't get any weirder, she even managed to summon.. Unicorn Heads..? The rest of the team often wondered when she had the chance to learn all of these spells.. and they were just dying to ask..
"Hey Carlie.. how'd you get the chance to.. learn those neat summoning spells?" Riesz stopped her for a while. Angela stood in shock as she witnessed Riesz complementing her worst enemy. It's wasn't like she didn't want information, though. She was quite impressed herself, what with the way a little devil like Carlie can actually summon other beings, for the love of goddess.
"Carlie.. saw stone!" she explained. "Touched it and light appeared..! Then Carlie felt stronger and look different.. into Enchantress!"
Different? Obviously the others were dumbfounded, since they recently met her the way she was now. How could they have known she had looked different from that?
"I-Impossible..! You class-changed?" the Fairy appeared in astonishment. "You need to have had so much experience and willpower to do that.. are you telling me you were mentally, physically and spiritually redeemed to change classes? How- but you're only seven or eight years old.."
Dumbfounded again, Hawk, Riesz and Angela stood there, hoping the conversation would go somewhere; to their benefit, preferrably.
"CARLIE NO EIGHT! CARLIE FIFTEEN!" she stomped, quickly being shushed by Hawk. At this rate, she'll cause fifty bats to come out of hiding.
Angela suddenly thought about it.. "I don't understand. Carlie's only fifteen and she already changed classes, but I'm NINETEEN, for goddess' sake, and I can't? Are you messing with us just so you can prolong our being here to help you on this Mana mission or whatever? We're older, meaning we should've been more 'physically and spiritually prepared than her."
Hawk and Riesz would have said something, 'would have' being the key to that sentence. At one point, their realisation of the same concept had finally entered. Why couldn't they class-change? Hawk knew very well that he, being seventeen, deserve to change classes more than Carlie.. who had no purpose. Wait, did she?
"By the way Carlie, why did you want to class-change in the first place? Is there someone who's bullying you?" Riesz seemed to have read Hawk's thoughts.
"Carlie needa save Heathie from bad man!" she suddenly put on her determined face, which was still cute overall. "Heath by Carlie's side ever since Carlie lost mama and papa. Grampa send Heath to city called Astoria and bad man kidnap him." They were awfully amazed she didn't sob at what she just said. And so Carlie.. was actually going through all the training and preparations.. for this so-called Heath?
"I still don't understand why we can't change classes like her.." Angela was suddenly jealous of her?
"Don't get me wrong, you can class change. I suppose your very will to be here pretty much sums it up that you're mentally and spiritually prepared. Physically, I'm not entirely sure. Hawk," she called, moving her attention to him once again. "Hawk should be both physically and mentally prepared. I'm quite certain Riesz is prepared in every single way just by looking at her.. although I'm not quite sure."
Yeah right. She just likes Riesz because she went through with letting Carlie in the team. If it weren't for her, Hawk nor Angela would've allowed it. The trio.. well, the five-o, continued to walk down, fighting through every enemy they came across while still being able to talk to each other. They were practically used to it by now. Hey, they just came out of this cave yesterday.
"Hey, you left out spiritually prepared." Hawk pointed out.
"You're a thief, goddess damn it!" Angela turned around, angry at the fact that she knew what the Fairy would say about her.
"Angela.. you're mentally prepared..." Riesz stated it for her.
After a few more seconds of waiting, Angela reached her limit.
"THAT'S IT?"
"DO YOU THINK YOU'RE WORTH MORE?" the amazoness argued.
"I'M AT LEAST MORE WORTH IT THAN YOU."
For the love of-
"Ladies, I do hope you notice that giant crab right in front of you." Hawk lightly tapped both of the girls' shoulders, immediately gaining their attention. "Oh, don't look at me. Look behind you."
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"GIANT CRABBY HEALED!" Carlie shouted after witnessing the most grotesque crab-like beast that was at least fifty times her size. And that was just the body. The team hadn't realized they were trapped from the earthquake that seafood had caused just by moving closer to them. It didn't matter; if it was looking for a fight, it got one. The five were fully prepared. They had the strength, the Fairy's guidance and Carlie's healing. They were lacking magic, but after they met this so-called light spirit, Angela should be able to benefit from his blessings. Hopefully.
"The real fight begins after we take out the eyes and break its shell. Then his bare body should be easy to destroy." the Fairy explained. Maybe she wasn't all that useless after all, but it's not like the rest couldn't see that for themselves.
Riesz blasted away with her lance, cutting open the crab's shell in as quick as a few seconds, which was then followed by Angela's hard hit with her staff and after a while, Carlie managed to pummell it with her ball and chain a couple of times as well. Of course the crack only measured in about ten centimeters, but it gradually grew more and more. The girls then aimed for both eyes- making sure that they'd still be able to evade its attacks.
With a solid determination, Hawk swiftly appeared from one side to another, hoping to confusing the crab. It was scary enough to appear a few inches away from it, so he often threw a few poisoning materials which appeared to look like eyes.. probably from the other enemies in the cave. Once the crab was successfully confused and dizzy, the girls yet again hit the shell and targeted the eyes. The strategy seemed to working out quite well. By the time they knew it, one eye already perished.
"Backslash!" the thief yelled, gracefully spinning in a circle with his daggers landing on the crab's shell, increasing the crack even more than Riesz had done. That spin sure portrayed a dancer of some sort, but of course having to be a thief would need for that kind of technique.
After a few more slashes and slicing, the crack grew wider and wider until it had fully broken, exposing the extremely disgusting bare body of the creature. They could finally finish this once and for all.
"Whirlwind Lance!" Riesz announced, whirling her lance up in the air which again landed on the crab's naked body. Oh wow, that should've hurt. After unleashing the attack, it made her a bit tired, but she still managed to have some strength left in her. Suddenly, she noticed an enormous cut on her finger by one of the broken pieces of the shell. Not minding the pain, she grabbed a handful of them and quickly whipped them onto the crab's skin. After hearing the pained cries, Hawk did one last slice and Angela pierced its remaining eye with her staff. "Double Attack!"
"Bonkle!" Carlie soon followed.
At last, the crab finally lost its remaining eye and turned a ruby red color as if ready to explode. A few seconds later, it turned into dust and ashes as the team had finally won.. against THAT.
Hawk sighed. "What was that thing anyway?"
"The Full Metal Hugger," the Fairy replied. "I do sense Wisp here.. I just don't know where he could be."
"Hey! Did someone mention my name?" cried a faint voice that chirped from beneath the rocks. That Full Metal Hugger sure destroyed the place before dying.
"I'm Wisp!" To their surprise, it was just a white flame floating up in the air. So was this the spirit of light the Fairy had been talking about? He does look a lot like what they thought spirits would look like.
"Hey Wisp, I'm Angela of Altena, and I need your help quick!" without no time to waste, Angela stepped in. There was no time for any more introductions, her needs were waiting! "I need to learn magic as soon as possible, do you think you can give good ol' me a few blessings, huh?" She then heard Hawk and Riesz slap their foreheads at the same time behind her. Ignoring the haste, Wisp floated on top of her, enclosing her in a soft white light. "Sure, Angela, I'd be willing to shine on someone who agreed to save the world!"
Oh, right. They had to save the world for it. After Wisp had finally floated away, Angela felt herself bathed in magic power; a feeling she had never once felt in her life. It felt great.
"Wisp, please lend us your strength." the Fairy pleaded and the spirit of Light smiled and nodded in agreement. "Thank you, Wisp. And Angela, you better not be thinking of testing your new magic right now. If you do, then we'll never be able to get out."
The only opening available in that cave was a mere hole that only one person could fit in at a time – and you had to crouch too. If Angela had tried even a little bit to call on Wisp's magic, they'd be stuck there forever, which would've been such a frightening thought. Lowering her staff, the magician growled at the fact that at some point, the Fairy might've read her mind. It did save their lives, though.
"GO, GO!" Carlie popped up. They had completely forgotten SHE was there. "We hafta go save world and Heathie!"
They would be fine with saving the world, and eventually they'd leave her to save her precious Heathie all alone. At least they would've done what they needed to.
"So Carlie, how were you able to change classes..?" Riesz brought up another good point as one by one, they crouched through the hole and continued walking forward. She didn't want to say how much she wondered how someone as small as her could be spiritually, mentally and PHYSICALLY prepared. That statement probably would just gain her contact with the ball and chain.
"Carlie met furry friend.." she began. "Furry friend also lost one he cared about so he train me."
Wow, someone was actually capable of putting up with her for so long. This 'furry friend', is she talking about a stuffed animal or something?
"Ah, so the furry friend also changed classes?" Hawk asked, just being a bit curious.
"No, furry friend told Carlie that there was no way to get him back."
"Him?" Angela had finally become interested.
"Lost a doggy.. doggy died by his hands," Carlie continued. She had finally calmed down. Just what is this furry friend, and why does he want to get stronger just because of a dead dog? Could it be they're.. both of the same kind?
"It's just like how it's painful for humans to lose a fellow human," Hawk seemed to understand. "It'd be painful for a beast to lose another beast."
Beast? Could Hawk be pertaining to the beastmen as he thought about it?
"LET CARLIE FINISH!" she shouted, losing that calm attitude they had finally liked about her. "Furry friend lost hope and decided to just let go of purpose.. that what furry friend say."
"Tragic," Angela kept walking ahead of the others. With a grunt, Carlie and the rest of the team followed, until they were greeted by a broken platform.
"Hey, Fairy, be of use and get us to the other side," Angela turned to the bright light. She noticed the Fairy grew brighter and brighter as she closed her eyes. It was just too blinding. The light finally ceasing, Angela opened her eyes to find that she was finally at the other side.. and greeted by more frightening faces.
"Hahahaha, now our invasion of Wendel can go as planned," laughed a familiar being. At least to Hawk.
"Beastmen," the thief took out his sharp daggers as he attempted to do so back at Jad. Riesz, remembering that event, pointed her lance at the furry beasts as well.
"Don't even think about it," their leader had said. He looked a lot more different. He had more hair, and he actually wore clothing. By the time they figured out their plan, they were already sent flying down the cliff, suffering a painful anf brutal fall on their backs. They were surely finished now.
...
"HEY! HEY!"
Hawk could hear the voice- but was still encompassed in pure darkness. No matter what he had done to push his muscles, the darkness wouldn't fade.
"GET UP!" the masculine voice rang his ears once more. That's easier said than done. Why couldn't he get up?
"Hey, pipe down." a new and more frightening voice chimed in.
"Freddy, please let me out!" There was suddenly this new conversation between two scary voices. The tones could very much tell the appearance for Hawk, whose body was still asleep.
"I can't.. on orders not to let you go!" their tones finally went down a bit.
"Okay, but Beast King will be mad.."
"Uh—but.. I was ordered-"
"Okay, Kevin tell Beast King Freddy didn't let him out."
Hawk was still clueless about what exactly was going on.
"Ah, n-no! I'll let you out, for Beast King!"
Hawk couldn't tell who was talking, he was just listening in by force. After the involuntary eavesdropping he suddenly heard a more familiar voice.
"Shh, Angela, wake up," That was Riesz's voice, no doubt about it.
"Erm, shut up. Carlie, don't be so loud either!" And that was Angela. Carlie should've been nearby. Dear goddess, why was he the only one who can't seem to wake up? He was awake mentally, but physically, that was another story.
"Hawk!" Riesz kept shouting his name, hoping to wake him up. "Hawk!" No luck.
"Carlie," Angela smirked. Now why was she suddenly laughing? "You can go wake Hawk up."
DEAR GODDESS..!
"AARGGHHH, NOOOO!" Hawk screamed, eyes almost bulging out of his sockets as he sat up. His heart was pounding; either because of the hard fall or because of what WAS going to happen if he didn't wake up. He looked around.. this wasn't any place he's ever been to before. All he was certain about was that he was in a jail cell.. a very ominous looking cell to say the least. He was so eager to see where the voices had come from, only to see brick walls and steel bars. So far, this 'journey' isn't going very well. To the corner of the cell, he found Angela still smiling, Riesz and Carlie in the opposite corner laughing as well, which made Hawk grumble with embarrassment.
The brain is powerful indeed- even to the point where all your organs and muscles no longer want to work, fear wakes them all up and forces them to do their jobs once more.
"HEY!" the voice he had heard had finally shown where it had come from – a beast.
Well, he sure looked like one, but he seemed different. There was that hint of kindness that Hawk had sensed just by looking at the poor fellow. He was probably bullied by the rest, but his threats earlier were about his relationship with the Beast King of some sort. Oh great, even he's of royalty?
"Me Kevin," he quickly introduced himself, unlocking the cell. Wait, why was he helping them? "Come out now, we escape."
"Escape?" Angela delightfully stepped out of the cell, regaining her energy along with the others who followed behind her. "Aren't you one of.. them?"
"No, Kevin not with them. Well, I was with them and then they killed.. no.."
"Killed?" echoed the Fairy. She was alive too, it seemed.
"Ah, Fairy!" the beast put on a smile, as if hopeful for something. "It better if we escape together. I was looking for you everywhere. If I help you can I get what I want?"
"Hey, hey, hey, not so fast.. How do we know you're not some enem-"
"FURRY FRIEND!" Carlie shouted, causing everyone to suddenly look at her. So he was the one who put up with Carlie, huh? This was the man who helped her prepare for class-changing, knowing very well it wouldn't benefit him in the future anyway. Maybe this beast had a kind heart.
"Sure." the Fairy smiled. "I'm sure the Goddess will bring back your friend."
Kevin stared in shock, and the Fairy quickly remembered that he had never told her anything; it was by her mere memories that she remembered Carlie's story. Come to think about it, their English is about at the same level to begin with.
"O-Okay. Kevin will join!"
"Bullshit.." Angela ran off without them. "Why on earth did I ever agree to saving the damn world when I have to be with people you'd expect to either be in jail or end up drunk by now. The goddess hates me!"
"By the way," Riesz shushed her. "Where are we?"
"Jad." Kevin softly answered.
...
That ended quickly. Oh well, don't flame. Please review!
And I hope you didn't notice that line from the Fairy: "HEY! Listen, ..."
I wasn't trying to go for a Navi reference, it was just an accident. xD