Disclaimer: I do not own Maplestory
Author's Note (you don't have to read this if you don't want to): This is something that I have forgotten to state for a (very) long time, which is my fault. When a word like heal or teleport is capitalized in the middle of a sentence, when it usually shouldn't be capitalized, it means that the skill is being used to do the action. However, if it is not capitalized, it just means that the action is happening. For example, when heal is capitalized, it means that the skill Heal is being used to heal. When it is not, it means that the person (or whoever/ whatever is using it) is just, well, healing himself, physically, mentally, etc. This is like when "assassin" is used, it means the "hit-man," the "killer," but when "Assassin" is used, it means the class, the shuriken-do one. Same thing goes for "sniper" and "Sniper." Maybe you haven't even noticed this before, but whatever. (Yeah, I know this sounds weird.) Hope this clears some things up. (Or maybe it just makes things more confusing.)
Ch. 3: It Takes One to Know One (Forgetfulness)
(Yes, this chapter has two chapter names. I couldn't resist putting both in. If you read the chapter, however, you will understand how both names fit.)
The Phantom Forest was…aptly named, thought Phil.
Although he usually wasn't the type to be scared easily, especially of the dark (like the Subway,) the Phantom Forest gave him the chills. He wasn't sure if it was because he was nervous, or if the place was particularly cold. He had never been here before, anyway. Of course, very few people had been here.
He carried his weapon in the form of the Sunspear, as he had done so in the Subway. He had also remembered to turn on his night vision. Everything he saw was a shade of green, as the human eye can discern more shades of green than any other color.
He stopped and saw a meso bag in the distance. That was strange. Why would people be leaving meso bags in such a haunted and deserted place? And to his knowledge, it seemed to be in a very large quantity…in thousands, not just the dinky tens or hundreds. He had no desire for the money, but decided to examine it anyway.
He heard sound and stopped, shooting quick glances around him. He returned his attention back to the meso bag. Only that it wasn't a meso bag anymore. It was a hideous creature—just like the one that had been riding around atop of the "Bigfoot."
He decided to fight it. "It" didn't last very long.
He continued on, wondering what other monsters and creatures inhabited this place. He had seen several trees—a very large portion of them, had these scary faces drawn on them. He understood why none of the trees had leaves—no light ever reached this placed, since a long time ago. Heck, rain water probably never reached this place either. All the trees were dead, he was willing to bet, a long time ago. But who carved or drew those faces on the trees? Who would spend so much time doing something like that?
Maybe they could've named this place something else, like, Forest of Dead Trees.
A few moments later, he found out that he would have lost whatever he had betted, and why it had not been called "Forest of Dead Trees". One of the "dead" trees with a "carved" face suddenly became very much alive and attacked him.
He was surprised, all right, as he was ensnared by the branches, but he quickly cut himself free with his Sunspear and landed on the ground.
However, the tree had more than just the branches. The roots shot up out from under the ground just as quickly, and knocked him off balance. He regained his balance using his weapon.
His Sunspear transforming into an Astral Blade, he commanded "Holy Charge, Heaven's Hammer!" as blasts of divine light fell around him, killing the "dead" tree. The roots withdrew back into the ground as fast as they had come.
Looking around and making sure everything had returned to "normal," he continued his excursion.
He met a couple Jr. Wraiths, but, because they were Juniors, they were a "junior" problem, as he quickly disposed of them with a quick Ground Smash.
There were also the regular Wraiths, but they didn't pose much of a problem either.
He had looked back at the Bent Tree. They weren't kidding when they had given it that name. He wondered what had caused it end up like that. Was it from a natural cause? Usually, plants would grow towards sunlight, and that was in the direction of New Leaf City, the opposite of the way the tree was bent. Perhaps the trees here grew away from sunlight…
The first real problem didn't come from monsters; he didn't know why, but he quickly discovered that, for some reason, a few of his gadgets began to malfunction. This usually wouldn't be too bad, but he also soon found out about the "Twisted Paths" as some pathways he walked through were closed as the trees moved, and new ones opened. He couldn't find his way by the stars because his view of the night sky was blocked by the masses of the trees, and at that time, the most notable malfunction was the compass. (The GPS wasn't working at all.) He guessed that it was because there was a lot of iron here, mostly in the not-so-far-away mountains.
Or maybe not…
Then, by as much luck as speculation, and he was able to find the right path from a lot of wandering around.
The first problem, from monsters though, was when he heard a stamping of hoofs. He lifted his sunglasses a bit. A pink horse appeared from nowhere, and came charging at him. The rider had a huge sword. What it didn't have, on the other hand—and really needed—was a head.
Phil wasn't really sure what to make of it, other than that it was probably pretty dangerous. He drew his Andromeda Bow, cast his support skills, and sighed. He guessed monsters like these wandered around places like this.
He fired a Hurricane attack at the Headless Horseman, but the rider just sliced apart all of the arrows, and the horse had not stopped. Phil wondered how it was able to see without a head. The horse could see, definitely, but what about the rider?
He turned his Andromeda Bow into the Astral Blade and cast Holy Charge upon it. The Headless Horseman suddenly stopped in its tracks, perhaps because of the charge.
"Charged Blast!" he screamed, as the discharge of holy energy was released from his sword, which almost immediately connected with the monster.
When the light cleared, he wasn't sure what had happened. It clearly didn't kill it, but it certainly had injured it.
Then, something…eerie…happened. A flame erupted from the rider's body and took the shape of a grinning head, with teeth and eyes. But even more, a moment later, the "head" detached from the body, and began floating towards him.
He switched weapons to his Abyss Shooter and fired several bullets at the floating "head." The "head" did not seem to notice the shots, as it continued floating towards him.
He changed weapons again, this time to his Celestial Staff.
"Glacier Chain!"
The attack struck the head of flame and also pulled into towards him.
Changing weapons immediately to his Astral Blade, he cast Ice Charge and followed with Savage blow, then Charged Blow.
He didn't see the flame anywhere when he finished his attack, so he turned his attention back to the horse. Except that it was too late, as it had also been advancing when the "head" had been coming towards him, and now it ran over him. Before he could recover, the man that badly needed a head swung its oversized sword at him, nearly knocking him out. Just as it was about to deliver a final blow, it seemed to be it be something from behind, stunning it, though Phil barely got a glimpse of what happened. This gave Phil enough time to recover from the initial hit.
He cast Super Transformation, then screamed "Snatch, Demolition!" as he, pulled it towards him, stunning it again, then, quite literally, demolished the Headless Horseman, along with the horse, with the blinding consecutive attacks.
After the monsters were gone, all that was left was a broken Jack O' Lantern where the head once was.
Phantom Forest indeed, thought Phil as he exited his transformation.
He wondered what other kinds of monsters he would encounter.
-X-
A bit later, he finally reached the beginning of what was the mountain.
He began his climb up the mountain- the Crimsonwood Mountain, it was called. This was when the most notable malfunctions in his gadgets occurred. As he took his first steps upward, he took a glance at the altimeter on his watch-it showed a reading of an elevation 4,000 feet. A while later, after he had climbed a little more, it dropped to below sea level, where it showed that reading for only a split second, and then began to fluctuate wildly.
Huh?
He looked at it again, making sure he wasn't hallucinating or something.
Incoherent mana channels, perhaps?
Unfortunately, he had no more time to dwell on this problem, as he saw a fresh mob of monsters coming at him, as well as giant rolling-pins attempting to crush him.
-X-
Inside the Crimsonwood Keep, there was a Bishop and a Corsair, who had been recently "employed" by the entities of the Keep. They imbibed the necromancy that was taught to them like no others had done before, rapidly rising up on the levels in only a few days. Only a few minutes ago they had been called to a room for a "conference," and were receiving their orders.
The Corsair had an unnatural silver-black hair that had been most likely affected by the necromancy, as well as blood-shot eyes and was unusually tall. A Dragonfire Revolver rested in his hands.
The Bishop had blue-green hair, although it was difficult to see in the poor lighting. She also had blood-shot eyes, perhaps also due to necromancy. For the Bishop, her hands held a Dimon Staff. She had a blue-green hair that was more green than blue, which miraculously had not been affected by the necromancy. She was shorter than the Corsair who stood next to her, but nevertheless gave the appearance of being tall.
The rest of their features were difficult to see, due to the poor lighting.
"We do not know how this man has been able to have come so close without us detecting him, or even being able to have progressed this much. However, he is an immediate threat, and must be eliminated.
The Bishop and the Corsair exchanged looks, and then nodded in unison.
Eliminate him at the Courtyard. He should arrive in a few minutes.
Both nodded again. They walked out, side by side, to eliminate this "threat."
Once they were out of earshot of the entities, they began speaking to each other.
"I'm beginning to wonder if we should have done this, Julian," asked the Bishop.
The Corsair named Julian put his arm around the Bishop. "Of course, my dear. Didn't I ask you before we did this?"
The Bishop gave a slight nod.
"Besides; we can become more powerful than anybody ever was; stronger than anyone who ever existed. Wouldn't you want that?"
There was silence for several seconds, save for the sound of their footsteps.
"But…did we have to do it through this way?" the Bishop asked, finally breaking the silence.
"There was— is— no other way, Amy," replied Julian. Although the Bishop named Amy wasn't sure, she might have heard a sigh that followed the reply.
She herself then gave a sigh that was an unmistakable one, lasting very long. It was not one of regret, or of relief, but something that neither Julian nor even herself could put a finger on.
"We've already advanced so much since the few days we have been here," said Julian. "So much more than if we hadn't taken this path. And remember that we were highly praised about the invasion? Especially about the spells that we were able to conjure that controlled several of the monsters could never be controlled, significantly amplified their powers, especially the Stormbreakers, the Windraiders, the Firebrands, the Nightshadows, the Typhons, and the one with the oversized feet and the monster with a lollipop riding on it. They were able to do miracles they never could have done before."
Amy nodded again.
"But...we still have so much ahead of us. We're both only a few years more than 20. Perhaps we could have achieved the same thing through our original lines of work," replied Amy.
Julian shook his head.
"It would have taken much more time— perhaps in years, or decades. Or, we may never even achieve that power in our life, if not with this path."
Amy glanced at Julian, but said nothing.
They reached the Courtyard a few minutes before the "threat" arrived.
"Stay behind me," ordered Julian. "You support me, and I'll gun him down. Heal me when I'm injured."
They first hid behind the statues that were around the Courtyard. Just a few moments later, they heard a sound that was out in the far distance, still in the Crimsonwood Mountains, but couldn't see anything.
Julian took a glance at Amy. She was just as confused as he was. Maybe more.
Then they saw a burst of white light, slightly at a distance away from the original spot where the "threat" had been. It killed a large number of unidentifiable monsters; Julian only was able to see it due to his exceptional accuracy, and Amy, her extensive training on Arcane Aim.
He must be pretty strong to be able to have been able come this far, thought Julian.
"Should we go down to meet him?" whispered Amy.
Without even looking at her, Julian shook his head. "We'll stand our ground. Besides; we were told to eliminate him at the Courtyard, and that's what we'll do. We'll let the monsters and the Crimsonwood Mountain wear him out first. Then we can surprise him. We want to keep our element of surprise. He won't be expecting us. Not that he knows we 'exist.'"
The "threat" had advanced closer now, so Amy and Julian readied their weapons and cast their support skills.
-X-
Phil wondered how much more of this climbing of this mountain he would have to put up with. And how many more monsters he would have to fight.
The whole thing had not been going well for Phil. He had recently run into several more problems on this "excursion." He had his Laser Pistol with the grappling hook, which was able to pull him up at a few times. As he had discovered, the Laser Rifle also had a grappling hook, and, like the other things on it, was "concealed" (it was very close to where the bayonet was; apparently, Marco had not yet bothered to show him it, as the weapon's other functions were much more useful). However, there were also just as many times when he couldn't find a suitable spot for the grappling hook to latch onto. Double Jump and Flash Jump weren't much help, as those skills were mostly for horizontal distance. He wasn't able to find suitable footholds to Teleport onto. This meant he had to make some himself. Sometimes he would drill or cut one into the rock face. After he drilled some with his Laser Rifle, he sighed, took out his Swiss Army Knife, flipped out the large blade, drew his Nebula Dagger, and began free climbing the tremendously tall cliff, with monsters threatening him the entire time, mostly those that were able to fly or levitate. When he reached the fork, he had actually gone up one path first, turned around and went back, then gone the other way, so he had seen what monsters inhabited both paths. He would have to use the retractable cleats every now and then to keep from slipping, especially when the rock faces were extremely smooth. Depending on where he was, he would transform his weapon into a different form into suit his needs in aid for climbing. He would have to stop momentarily, hang in mid-air, one hand holding onto the Dagger, or whatever weapon it was, and shoot down some monsters with his Laser Pistol with his other hand. When he had reached a certain point, he was able to Teleport or pull himself over onto the top. During his overall "excursion," he had wondered if Brent had secretly followed him, as there were these strange noises, especially those of things being cut with a blade— a sword or an axe, he had guessed. Since he had even turned back, he also went to take a look at some of the trees, which were now a red, or rather, crimson, color, up here, and some of the branches had been cut off by a blade. Although he hadn't seen anybody, he had shouted "Brent, stop playing these games with me." It was very possible that he was hallucinating or something, just as with the altimeter and compass, but everything else he had experienced was very real. And, after all, Brent had insisted on coming with him. But would he still have come after he told him not to?
Out of the blue, after climbing over several cliffs, he noticed something he hadn't before. On the apex of this mountain, there seemed to be this sort of castle. He had been so busy fighting nightmarish monsters and dodging giant rolling-pins that he hadn't had a chance to even take a glance in the direction he was looking at now. But even in the midst of all this, there was something even more bizarre.
The telescopic lenses in his sunglasses had shown him five statues and a better outline of the "castle." However, along with that, the thermo-scanner also registered two "human beings;" at least, that was the shape and amount of heat signatures of the bodies behind two of the statues.
Very strange, thought Phil. Friend or foe? Most probably foe. Most certainly they—this "castle"—has something to do with that incident in Kerning City. A lot of the monsters I have met across this trip resemble, or are virtually the same as the ones seen during that event. But who knows? They could be prisoners. Or bait. But why would prisoners be kept out here? And why would bait be put behind statues?
-X-
"When should we attack?" asked Amy, uneasy.
"When we see the white of his eyes" replied Julian.
However, they never saw "the white of his eyes." This allowed Phil to attack first.
Out of nowhere, there was a shout of "Arrow Rain!" as hundreds of blue, glowing missiles fell from the sky. The attack hit both of the necromancers, but they were far from defeated.
Obviously a Bowmaster, thought Julian.
Julian leapt out of his position and commanded "Flamethrower!" as an inferno burst from his Dragonfire Revolver towards the Bowmaster.
"Blizzard!" they heard the "Bowmaster" counter as jagged ice spikes canceled out Julian's attack.
Blizzard?
Before Julian could fire another attack, he heard the newcomer let out a scream of "Dragon Pulse!" as an arrow, also letting out a scream, slammed into him at terminal velocity, causing him to crash into one of the walls of the Crimsonwood Keep.
This made Amy leave her spot and go to tend to Julian, while delivering attacks at the newcomer all the time, though they had little effect on him. He produced some sort of dark shield and shouted "Power Guard!" and "Power Reflection!" It also seemed that Guardian seemed to activate for every few attacks. She herself didn't receive any of the reflected damage, as she was moving the whole time.
How does a Bowman carry a shield and know a Warrior's skills? thought Amy.
"I'm all right," mumbled Julian as he picked himself up. The newcomer had Teleported towards them. In addition, he was already preparing for another attack with his sword, as he had Combo Orbs circling him.
How can…a Bowmaster…use Teleport…let alone Combo Attack?
Julian commanded "Battleship," hopped into the miniature boat, and began firing the cannon at the newcomer.
For the newcomer, Divine Shield kicked in automatically as a translucent wall appeared around him and absorbed all of the shots from the Battleship, though they weren't really so sure about it. How could such a shield be generated from a Bowmaster? Or Magician? Or Hero?
-X-
Phil had his own worries, too. These two enemies seemed more than just another random group of people. However, he had no more time to think about it, as one of the enemies delivered a spell against him.
"Dispel!" shouted Amy. A black light shot out of the eyes her Dimon Staff directly towards the newcomer. Whatever the defense was, this necromantic dispel should be able to nullify it.
It did. It penetrated the shield and removed it. As if on cue, Julian exited his Battleship and screamed "Absorber!" as a spear of dark energy materialized in his hands, which he launched straight towards the Bowmaster/ Marksman/ Hero/ Paladin/ Magician at once. It hit him, which reduced his HP and MP to one. He was sent spinning and, after several revolutions, landed next to the Thief Statue, nearly unconscious.
"Wait," Julian said to Amy. "We still aren't sure what this man is capable of, or his condition right now. Or even who he is."
The man gave a near inaudible moan.
Julian lifted one hand to Amy, signaling for her to stay behind him. He took a tentative step toward the man, his gun aimed at him the entire time. He couldn't see his weapon anywhere, but had no doubts that it was still near him. After all, the attack never killed anyone; it was actually impossible to do so. It was only if it was chained with the poison could it kill.
The man shifted his body position a bit, making Julian stop.
He's dangerous…too dangerous to be left alive, thought Julian. He had to be killed.
He steadied his gun at the man. "Shadow Blast!" he shouted.
"Iron Curtain!"
A wall of shurikens emerged from thin air, effectively shielding the man from the attack. A moment later, a female with pink hair emerged as well. She wore the same attire as the man. She even had a pair of shades, just like him.
"Philly!" she shouted, running over to the man. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Recovery works pretty well with Heal and MP Recovery, though four seconds can be quite a long time, especially if you're about to get killed, and you have to have enough four seconds to be able to use a skill," replied the man whom she called "Philly".
"How did you get here, anyway?" he added.
"I followed you!" she squealed, jumping up and down. Then, turning angrily at the person who was holding a gun, she shouted, "You meanie!"
"Who the hell are you?" he shouted back.
"I'm his girlfriend," she replied, a little too casually, especially at someone who was pointing a gun at her.
Phil had gotten back up by now, and muttered under his breath, "I don't have a girlfriend."
"How…romantic," he replied, sarcasm dripping from his lips, who obviously hadn't heard him.
Amy walked up to Julian and said, in an urgent tone, "Julian. She called him Phil."
Julian, upon hearing at what Amy said, suddenly froze. Then he, relaxed just as quickly.
"Relax," Julian said to Amy. "He could be any Phil in the world. Not the one we know."
"Julian?" asked Phil. Then, without stopping, he looked at the female that was standing by "Julian" and asked, "Amy?"
Nobody spoke for a few seconds.
"Not the one we know?" asked Amy, looking skeptically at Julian.
There was a moment of silence.
"You…you actually know these people?" stammered Evelyne in disbelief.
Phil did not give a reply. He personally did not want to believe it either. But this was all just too real...
All of a sudden, Julian, out of irritation, fired several shots that were neither aimed nor magic assisted. This caused Evelyne to begin attacking Julian, which made Amy run and Teleport over towards them and attack Evelyne and assist Julian, prompting Phil to charge over and attack Julian and Amy and assist Evelyne. By one way or another, Phil wound up attacking Amy, and Evelyne ended up fighting Julian.
Julian was blasting showers of fire and ice at Evelyne and called upon Air Strike attacks, which she either dodged with rapid speed or Darksight, or blocked with Dark Flare or Shadow Shifter. Evelyne, who had cast Shadow Partner, would retaliate with Triple Throw, Avenger, or Ninja Ambush, only for the stars or ninjas to be shot down with Julian's Rapid Fire, Invisible Shot, and Grenade attacks.
Meanwhile, Phil was attacking Amy with his Astral Blade, and Amy parried with her Dimon Staff with surprising proficiency, especially for a Bishop.
Amy Teleported to a spot where she was far enough from Phil's close range sword attacks and commanded "Black Arrow!" as an arrow that was true to its name appeared in her right hand and simultaneously equally dark bowstring also began to form on the staff. She loaded her "bow" it and released the "bowstring" at Phil.
"Serenity!" countered Phil. From Amy, it looked just like a Paladin's Divine Shield...except that it was a lot stronger. The attack seemed to merely bounce of the defense.
Amy fired several more of the dark arrows, but none penetrated the holy shield.
"My turn now," said Phil, raising his sword. Only that it wasn't a sword any more. It was a bow.
"Soul Arrow, CHAOS STORM!" he screamed. Hundreds of spectral arrows flew from his bow at an incredible speed, slamming into Amy and tearing at her. She landed on a spot that was several feet away from where she had originally stood. She was able to cast Heal a few times, but soon after was hit by a Double Uppercut attack by Phil who had Teleported towards her. She fell limply to the ground, though still a little conscious.
Evelyne was still dueling with Julian. Neither was able get past each other's attacks; they were just too fast for each other, as both knocked down, blocked, or dodged each other's shots.
Something else then, thought Evelyne. She dodged a few more bullets from Julian and knocked off another shot with a Triple Throw. I need to get closer to him...
Unexpectedly, Evelyne leaped forward, whipped out a dagger, and began screaming "Savage Blow!" launching a barrage of dagger strikes against Julian. She stole a glance at Phil and the female called Amy.
He had her raised slightly above the ground, was clutching her by the throat with his left hand, and had her against pinned against the wall. She had dropped her staff, which as only a few inches away from her, and was attempting to break his iron grip with both her hands, but to no avail. His Astral Blade was drawn and raised to her throat.
Evelyne returned her attention to fighting Julian. She had been hit by a Homing Beacon from Julian, and was going to take heavy damage if she didn't act fast. She gave a cry of "Smoke Shell!" as she disappeared in a cloud of smoke. She stole another glance at her teammate.
The blade of the sword just grazed her neck…and he lowered his weapon. During the entire time, the expression on his face—one of iron—had not changed.
He threw her aside.
She landed on the ground, panting hard, catching her breath.
He turned to her and pointed the sword towards her. "I've…known you longer…than I would like to admit, right now. I know there is still some good in you…" His voice turned into a scarcely audible whisper, and then trailed off.
He turned to Evelyne, who had just knocked just out Julian with a massive Boomerang Step-Assaulter-Savage Blow chain. He couldn't have said anything to him even if he wanted to.
"C'mon, Evelyne," said Phil. "Let's go."
Then Phil left. Slowly.
Evelyne, who was dumbfounded by Phil's last actions, took one last glance at the two necromancers, staying behind long enough to hear the barely conscious Amy mutter "… Crimsonwood Keep…" then quickly followed Phil out of the Courtyard.
