A/N: Ack! Sorry this took so long! College happened and... yeah. Anyways, here's chapter 3!
"Wow…he's strong!" Mithos watched on as the strange newcomer simply blocked the giant Desian's mace with a simple swish of his sword.
"Very strong!" Marta commented as she watched him stab the Desian on the chest, causing the gargantuan to topple over.
"Y-Yeah…I guess so." Emil muttered, still focused on the man's back. Why does he look so familiar? He thought to himself as the redhead sheathed his sword, now having a stare-off with the robed man, who looked less than pleased. "Damn, I never thought you'd show up. Retreat for now!" he commanded.
"But sir, what about Vidarr?" one of the grunts asked, looking down at the defeated giant.
"Carry him." The robed man (whom we still can never find out who) replied with a tone of concern, helping the other Desian soldiers carry their fallen comrade and make their exit. As the trio stood up from the ground, Phaidra had begun thanking the mysterious man.
"Oh, how can I ever thank you for saving the Chosen?" she said. The man casually looked over his shoulder, finally taking notice of the other two children (one he had not much the pleasure of meeting), and his gaze falling on the girl. She does bear quite a resemblance, he thought. Facing the old woman, he said "So that girl is the next Chosen…" And as if a switch was flicked on, Marta beamed and clasped her hands. "Oh right! Grandma, I have to go and accept the Oracle now." In a quick motion, she had grabbed the older teen's hand. "C'mon Emil, let's go!"
"W-Wait!" Emil exclaimed. Though it went unnoticed, the man's irises widened at the mention of the boy's name. "Your name's…Emil?" he asked. Confused, the mentioned teen looked at the man straight and replied "Y-Yeah but … who are you to ask for my name?"
"…" the man paused, looking once again at Phaidra with a pair of irises that have gone back to normal size. "…I am Richter, a mercenary. And as long as you can pay me, I will accept the task of guarding the Chosen." The wise woman looked at her granddaughter, and back at the mercenary named Richter before sighing heavily.
"Under the circumstances…" she started, "I could do nothing but agree. Richter, I leave you with the task. The life of the Chosen is upon you."
"Wait a minute Phaidra!" Emil said, rather angry this time "Don't tell me you're just going to leave Marta with some stranger! Who knows what he'll do to her!"
Richter ended up making a snide comment that was unheard by the people present, while Phaidra looked on at both Emil and Mithos. "You two better go home."
"I agree. This is no job for children." The mercenary added, fuelling the already shaking Emil. The nerve of this man! To dismiss them so casually… just who does he think he is?!
"Fine then, I'll just follow you on my own." Emil smirked, finding a loophole to this petty argument. Richter grunted in frustration. Ha! Just what Emil had wanted! A reaction from the man!
"You're a stubborn kid" the redhead man said, pushing his glasses up as he turned to enter the temple. "Fine, do whatever you want. I'm not responsible for whatever happens to you." With a quick motion, he motioned Marta to follow, said girl catching up to him.
"Well, let's go Mithos." The teen said to the young elf, causing the said elf to step back in surprise.
"W-What?! You want me to go too?"
"Of course! Do you want to leave Marta alone with that guy?"
Mithos shook his head in frustration. "You're just saying that because you're scared Marta might fall for that guy." Saying that caused Emil to blush madly, stuttering an 'I am not!' before running into the temple, Mithos following suit with a big smirk on his face.
"Wow…So this is what it looks like inside the temple…" Emil mused out loud, looking around the area like a little kid. But it wasn't just him acting like that though; Mithos and Marta did the same as well, since it was the first they saw the inside of this place of worship in a different light.
"This isn't a field trip you know." The only adult in the group stated, crossing his arms. Howls from monsters can be heard, echoing through the supposedly empty place, causing Mithos to hide behind the Chosen.
"There are monsters in this place too? ..." Mithos uttered shakily as Emil's emerald eyes narrowed, his hand quickly going for the sword sheathed behind him. Richter rolled his eyes, obviously getting annoyed with the two boys. "Of course; this is all for the trial that the Chosen must undergo. Were you not aware of this before you foolishly decided to follow her?"
Now this ticked the teen off. "Listen you!" he pointed at the mercenary with a sudden roughness in his voice, shocking the other two that were there. "I don't know what your deal is, but there is no way that I am letting myself be humiliated by some damn mercenary who thinks he knows everything!
"I have my eye on you. Marta means everything to me and Mithos. So if you do anything, or plan to do anything funny to her … I won't hesitate to CUT. YOU. UP. Got that?" he growled, jabbing his finger at Richter's chest as emphasis for each word. The tension in the air was very thick between the two; it made both Mithos and Marta want to shrink to the ground. Richter simply tch'd as he shoved the teen away from him, said teen stumbling to the ground as he headed for the middle path of the temple. "I don't have time for this." He muttered. "The Chosen has yet to receive the Oracle. And if you two will keep continue to keep delaying us then we'll just have to leave you here."
"HEY! DON'T YOU IGNORE ME!" Emil shouted at him, before he caught something the redhead threw at him. It appeared to be a book. "Your swordsmanship is unrefined. That training manual will help you out." He said without bothering to look at the still enraged teen. Marta was torn between following Richter and trying to calm down Emil. After all, it had been a long time since she and Mithos had last seen him like that.
"Chosen, are you coming?" The man's voice reached her ears as she looked up to see him already near the stairs that led to the lower regions of the temple. His face had an unamused look as he waited for his client to make up her mind. This look didn't even change when he noticed a group of zombies that suddenly appeared and surrounded the three.
The trio, meanwhile, due to this sudden appearance of this group of zombies, quickly fumbled for their weapons; Marta having to activate her spinner, Mithos looking his kendama that mysteriously displaced itself (it was usually strapped to his back for convenience), and Emil, still sour from his squabble with Richter, trying to focus on the monsters in hand, instead of the monster that was near the stairs. Once one of the zombies started moving, so did the swordsman, using himself to give time to his other companions to get into a better position to fight. Seeing the young swordsman rush in so recklessly made Richter want to just ditch him in order to teach him a lesson, but…
"…" Richter retraced his steps, slowly unsheathing his sword that was situated on his left hip, the blade gleaming ominously despite the minimal sunlight that entered the temple. Once the sword sat comfortably in his hand, the mercenary wasted no time chopping up the zombies that were in his way before he could actually reach the three kids who were struggling slightly with their foes due to being ambushed. Emil continued to buy time for Mithos and Marta, Mithos in the process of calling in a spell, Marta looking for a Magic Lens or two to check on the information they could get that could help them beat these zombies up, having noticed that simply attacking them wasn't enough.
"Ah!" she exclaimed. "Zombies are weak against fire spells!" Mithos, their resident mage, nodded his head as he heard of this, and quickly went upon casting a Fire Ball for the zombie Emil was still struggling with. It was ridiculous really. If Emil tried to move away from the zombie, said zombie would immediately make its way toward Marta, and she already had her hands full with the others coming their way. "Go! Fire Ball!" Mithos called out, his kendama shining as mana filled it, and released itself as spheres of fire toward the creature. Emil had to duck as the balls of fire crashed into the zombie, burning its already rotting flesh away as it decomposed into nothing but ashes.
Heh, Richter thought, so they actually can handle themselves. Seeing the three suddenly having the upper hand on the battle, the man sheathed his sword back, having done part of his work in this battle. He stayed where he was instead, deciding to watch them handle this on their own. He noticed that Emil would always be on the frontline, while Mithos, observing that he was more content in casting spells, stayed at the very back, with Marta situating herself in the middle area, acting as the young blonde's second guard, or Emil's frontline support. It was quite a sight for him to see that these three have already had a battle formation planned out.
Once all the monsters have been exterminated, Richter strode towards them, bringing out three Apple Gels. "Eat this." He said, giving the gels to each one. "You'll need that strength of yours later on. Like I said, the monsters here are all part of the trial that the Chosen must go through." Looking at both Emil and Mithos, he added "If you can't even stand on your own two feet without fainting, then I strongly suggest you leave."
Colette damn it… Emil thought as he begrudgingly ate the medicinal gel.
After retrieving the Sorcerer's Ring from the lower portions of the temple, followed by a little fight on who gets to wear the ring (it was decided that Marta were to wear the ring, much to Mithos and Emil's disappointment), they finally went to the top of the Temple of Colette, where the altar stood still as it basked itself under the holy light that came from the heavens, giving the people who were to witness this event that the time for the Chosen's journey has come.
"This is it?" Emil asked while putting a hand on his hip as his initial idea of the altar being grand-looking was dashed. Richter couldn't help but continue to stare at Emil in disappointment, while Mithos could only shake his head towards his friend, muttering a 'you get bored so easily'. This action was cut short however, when the elf took notice of something shining.
"Hey, Marta, what's that?" Mithos asked, pointing at the red gem that seemed to be floating in the light. "Oh, that's my Cruxis Crystal." Marta replied, clasping her hands together "It's apparently a sign that says that I'm the Chosen. They say that when I was born, I had it in my hand."
"Was that how it went?" Emil asked no one in particular, tilting his head. He then heard a noise. It was the sound of… flapping wings? He looked up, green eyes widening in awe as he saw another light, this time in the form of a sphere, coming down the stream of light that shone on the altar. "L-Look!" was all he managed to say before the ball of light burst, and changed its form into something that resembled a human.
But of course, it wasn't a human. It couldn't be a human to begin with. The man donned green and white robes, bearing the insignia of the Church of Colette. He also had a matching hat that went with it. Though that wasn't what made the man not look like a human.
He had wings. He had feathery, white wings on his back, flapping gently as it helped him stay afloat as he appeared in front of the group. There was a barrier of silence between him and the group, eyelids slowly opening as the being finally spoke, crystal blue eyes shimmering under the light as he looked upon them.
"I am Remiel, an angel of judgment" he said to the group before he turned his head to look at the lone girl in the said group. "I am here to guide Marta, daughter of the mana lineage, on her journey to heaven as the seventh Chosen." The angel then descended a bit more, as if to be on the same level as them. "The time has come to awaken the Goddess Colette, who sleeps at the center of the world."
The gem that was previously ignored suddenly started glowing brightly, approaching Marta. While Emil's eyes grew wide with worry, the girl just seemed to be calm, even closing her eyes as the crystal approached her collarbone. She didn't even stir as it attached itself to her skin; lines of gold snaking out of it as it made itself 'comfortable' around her neck, creating the appearance of a necklace. After that little scene, the area suddenly started shaking.
"What the-?! An earthquake?!" Mithos stammered, trying to balance himself despite all the shaking. Remiel's voice, however, was louder than the rumbling. It seemed to add an effect to what he said next.
"From this moment, Marta becomes the Chosen of Regeneration. We of Cruxis bless this event, and hereby bestow the Tower of Salvation upon Sylvarant!"
The rumbling finally stopped, to everyone's (even Richter's) relief. The angel then pointed outwards, where the Tower of Salvation had made its appearance. The two boys were in awe.
"So THAT's the Tower of Salvation!" Emil exclaimed, not bothering to hide his amazement.
"Now the world will be saved!" Mithos added, jumping in place.
Remiel then looked once again at Marta. "Marta, the Chosen of Regeneration. Unlock the seals that guard the Tower of Salvation and climb its stairs to heaven in distant lands. We of Cruxis shall grant you the power of the angels with each seal you unlock. Once you are reborn as an angel, this eroded world shall be regenerated."
The girl nodded her head. "I swear on my life that I will regenerate the world."
Finally, the Chosen's journey will start.
