Hikaru: . . . MUWAHAHHAHAHAHHAHA! THEY'RE ALL DEAD! DEAD DEAD DEAD DEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!!!
Audience: . . .tear
Hikaru: Ahahah . . . hahah . . . ha . . . ha . . .
Audience: . . .
Hikaru: Okay, fine I'm not that evil . . .
--
Was there truly nothing she could do? She, a knight of the Holy Kingdom of Gadoria, of the noble House of Valens, could only stand here as she and her comrades, the last hopes of humanity, were utterly wiped out? The moment Walter had begun his spell, she had stopped in her tracks, sword hanging uselessly at her side, jaw unhinged, gaping like fresh yams from the dirt.
"Everybody defend!" Jay yelled, taking Chloe by the arm and pulling her back, away from Walter toward the others.
Chloe almost dropped her sword, and barely remembered to move so as not to place a burden on Jay. She couldn't really think of anything in particular, her thoughts kept racing--toward Stingle, her dead parents, all the contempt the other nobles had shown her in her childhood as she struggled, trying to perserve the proud Valens name. Mostly her mind wandered, until it finally hit something she could focus on in place of her horribly drowning.
Senel Coolidge.
She had never told him how she felt, although anyone with half a brain could clearly see it from a distance. She knew in her heart that the ones most important to Coolidge were Stella and Shirley. Now that Stella no longer lived, undoubtedly his attention would be diverted to Shirley . . .
"There's not enough energy left for the barrier."
Will's grave voice snapped Chloe out of her thoughts.
Already Chloe could hear the roar of the ocean, or was that only her imagination?
No, she now saw it clearly. From the deep reservoirs of oceanwater in the Mirage Palace, Walter drew in the power, the water, the will of the ocean itself, and it collected by him into looming waves crested with white, shining deep blue. It was cold, and the excessively salty smell stung Chloe's nose.
They were finished. There was no place to be carried by the water, and all Ferines could breathe underwater, so to them it mattered little if it were flooded or dry.
"Quiet Nerifes . . ." Chloe muttered.
Ice cold water crashed into them.
--
Getting into the Earth Monument was easy enough. It was getting through the security devices that was going through hell and back. When they were sent to the beginning of the pathway for the umpteenth time, Senel sighed and simply fell down eagle-sprawled.
"Is this one of Kratos' tests?"
Tear sighed.
"No. But we still need to get through."
Thusly the problem was solved: Senel simply leapt over the red panels.
In the first antechamber, Senel stopped to rest, and Tear followed suit. She began to unpack the contents of her item bag, and not only medicinal items were there, but food as well. Senel quirked a brow.
"You don't bake bread?"
"No, not really." She unwrapped the fresh green leaves off the food she intended to serve, which turned out to be . . . rice balls.
As they munched on their lunch, Senel's mind wandered. The Earth Monument was quite a peaceful place, just like Norma and Grune had said before. The only reason he didn't want to take the time to stop and relax back then was because he was anxious to learn what the Quiet Nerifes had to tell them . . . not that it amounted to anything in the end, at least to Senel. Will had said before that this building was purposely made to maintain a temperate climate and thus create this kind of atmosphere. If that's so, then the other monuments must've been made specifically for their individual climates, although the reason as to what the monuments were used for and why remained quite a mystery.
Most curiously of all, what were those cylindrical tanks filled with liquid for . . .?
Senel blinked.
Tear remained silent. She wasn't speaking, or even making any kind of vocalization whatsoever.
". . . Do you hear that?"
She stopped to listen for a moment.
"It's hard to make out, but yes."
It sounded like singing. The song was different, but it reminded Senel of Tear's hymns, and when he took deep breaths and relaxed his body, it seemed to sooth his very soul. Whoever sang it had a very beautiful voice . . .
His head throbbed.
"Ow . . ." Senel put a hand to his temple, brow furrowed as a wave of dizziness swept him over.
"Are you all right?" Tear gently asked.
Another painful throb. It was difficult to make sense of where he sat; his head spun. It was simliar to when the Quiet Nerifes first contacted him, yet this was somehow different . . .
It felt like . . .
--
Chloe coughed up seawater. Cold, soaked to the marrow, her lungs choked with salt water . . . but alive. She coughed a bit more, pushing herself upright. She was not awash in a torrent of sea water (unlike that time at the Waterways . . .), but alive, on dry land nonetheless. She sat up, gaining her bearings.
She was in a cell.
Wonderful.
"Raynard?" Chloe called tentatively into the darkness reaching beyond. She sneezed. Damn, it was cold down here.
No one answered.
"Sandor? Norma? Grune? Jay? Anyone?"
The dark remained silent.
Chloe shivered. Her armor was gone, her accessories gone, and her sword as well. Strong as she was, it did her no good unless she held a weapon.
Her cell was circular, rather alike, if not identical, to the ones the Ferines were jailed in at Vaclav's hidden fortress. But she knew they were still at the Mirage Palace. What kind of castle didn't have a dungeon to house its prisoners? At that thought Chloe froze. Prisoners. Why hadn't Walter simply killed them? That last spell should have . . . yet here she was, alive. And she couldn't even swim, and had equipped heavy weapons and armor, no less. Walter would never hesitate at a chance to kill a band of Orerines. Chloe drew her knees to her chest, shivering for warmth.
Why hadn't Walter killed them . . .?
Someone coughed heavily nearby. It was a man's voice. Chloe's hopes soared.
"Raynard?"
More coughing.
"Chloe, is that you?"
Chloe smiled. It was Will.
"Yes. How are you?"
"I've been better. You?"
"I'll live. I'm a knight, remember?"
Silence pervaded for a time. In that little amount of time, Chloe realized that Will's cell was probably beside her own. Just as Shirley's cell was next to Fenimore's . . . Chloe thought, recalling the story as told by Shirley. Abruptly she shuddered with fright. She hoped to high heaven and deep sea that there weren't any instruments of torture in the dungeon here . . .
"--ead."
Chloe flushed. Will had spoken, and yet she paid no attention.
"I'm sorry?"
"We should be dead."
Well, that much had already been established when Chloe gained consciousness. She sneezed again.
"Raynard, what should we do? How do we get out of here?"
Shirley could be activating the Wings of Light even as they spoke. Will must've guessed the same.
"I was awake during the whole ordeal. You fell unconscious."
Chloe found herself blushing again. Faced with drowning by a giant tidal wave, who wouldn't pass out? Will continued.
"As did Norma, Moses, Grune, and Giet."
Chloe blinked.
"Giet was with us?"
She could imagine Will shrugging.
"Well, he was there after the wave hit."
"Ah! Never mind that now," Chloe's voice came out louder than she intended. This time, she spoke more softly. "Do have any idea how to get out? And how're we still alive?"
"I have a vague idea why we were spared," Will said this slowly, as if he were still uncertain about this simple assumption.
Chloe couldn't believe what Will said next.
Impossible!
--
In the room with the yellow cylindrical tanks, the song was louder, but still quite faint. There were also quite a bit of monsters. Senel and Tear were in fact fighting a monster just then, a large horse, big and muscular enough to be a draft horse. The thing was, its eyes were rather menacing, and Senel couldn't help but notice . . . the horse had huge fangs. Fangs!
Senel dodged a charge by the horse, so dubbed "night mare," and called to Tear nearby:
"Why does that horse have fangs?"
Her reply was relatively calm, although it sound a bit confused, like he.
"It's obviously carnivorous,"
"A carnivorous horse? What's the world coming to?"
The horse neighed, rearing up on its hind legs. Stomping down, it created a shockwave. Senel leapt at it to avoid the shockwave; Tear wasn't so lucky.
Senel landed briefly before jumping into the air once more.
"Pheonix Strike!"
Once he got onto the horse, he grabbed at its huge neck, hanging on for dear life. The horse tried to throw him off to no avail, not to say it was easy for poor Senel to hang on at all. Senel began to think he would distract the monster this way so Tear would have time to heal herself and cast another spell, until the horse started to ram its back into a wall.
Senel jumped off the horse. To stay on would've been suicide.
There was but one thing left to do. Senel charged at the monster.
"Whirlwind Talon Blast!"
As Senel launched a barrage of kicks, he thought his legs would break; this monster's hide was tough!
Tear began to cast a spell.
"Thou who wouldst take revenge, carve here thy holy seal!"
One, two, three more kicks and Senel would finish his assault . . .
"Eclair de Larmes!"
A cross of light drew itself beneath the horse; exploding with tremendous energy. The horse neighed almost pitiably, until Senel recalled that this horse happened to fancy flesh. Once the horse was down, Senel knelt, to pick it up to throw back down. Unfortunately, it was way too heavy. So Senel instead aimed a decisive kick to the shoulder of the horse, thus not only breaking the shoulder blade but also dislocating the joint. The monster screamed in pain, snapped at Senel. He staggered back; the animal had only just missed him.
"Tear, finish it off!"
"Right."
The casting began.
"O divine spear, run mine enemy through!"
The horse struggled and despite its injured leg got to its feet. It neighed angrily, and Senel backed off, prepared to defend.
"Holy Lance!"
A great spear of light flew straight through the horse. Gouts and spurts of blood flew everywhere. After one last scream, the horse fell, dying or already dead.
Senel heaved a sigh, panting heavily. Tear concentrated.
"O purest water of life . . .Meditation!"
Instantly Senel felt renewed. After thanking Tear, the duo went on ahead. According to Tear, Kratos would be waiting in the deepest part of the monument, which they were fast approaching. As they climbed up the staircases, the song Senel had heard before grew louder.
"Iyeyuyi . . . Nobomenu . . . Renmiri . . . Yojuyogo . . . Hasatakenae . . . Kutamae . . ."