Spirit of Water

The next day, Stahn packed his bag full of supplies in preparation for their journey. Rutee groomed Vapor, hoping to look presentable for the great water spirit. When they were ready, they met in the foyer.

"Good luck," said Hugo, "Undine is said to be the gentlest spirit. Hopefully, Rutee can pass her test and she'll impart her powers to the girl." He handed Stahn a strange scroll. On it was a message in an ancient language. Instead of the typical black ink, this was written in blue.

Rutee inquired, "What is this scroll?"

"The key to Undine's lair. She keeps it locked for added protection," replied Hugo.

"Thank you," said Stahn, "We'll be off now. After we return from Cresta, we'll be sure to visit you." Then, they left the mansion.

Hugo watched them go. "Now. . .we shall see if the girl is worthy of becoming a Summoner."

* * *

The first stop was the armory. Using some of the shopping money Hugo had given them, Stahn brought himself a new breastplate, helm, and gauntlet. For Rutee - - who had no armor at all - - he picked up a light robe, ribbon, and a defensive charm. When they put the armor on, it disappeared - - or in Stahn's case a new set appeared in his hands.

"What's with that?" asked Rutee.

Stahn answered, "Armor becomes invisible upon contact with human skin. The visual armor I wear is what they call under armor, which looks strong but can't provide a lot of defense without another piece. It's mostly to discourage bandits."

Rutee looked intently at Stahn. There was so much she still had to learn about humans. She told him such as they left the store. Stahn told her, "Don't worry, you'll learn."

Next they went to the weapon shop. This time, the weapons didn't vanish. Rutee figured that the weapons being invisible would be a bit impractical. After all, how could she hit the monsters then?

Realizing he had some money left, Stahn went to buy some Potions and Ethers at the item shop. Then - - after giving his finances a look over - - he sold the old armor and weapons, and purchased a few Antidotes - - for Poison - - and Eye drops - - for Blindness.

Finally, all the preparations were complete. The duo left the city, and headed around the mountains to the village of Cresta. There they again went shopping to replenish the Potions that had been used to heal when Rutee ran out of magic - - since Ethers were more expensive. Also, the store sold Echo Grass - - for Silence - - and Soft - - for Stone - - and hadn't been available in Darilshied.

Because they were both beaten and bruised, Stahn suggested they spend the night in Cresta. "How will the inn help our wounds?" asked Rutee, "All we do is sleep."

"Inns restore our HP and MP to full. It's less expensive than giving you an Ether to recover your MP, healing up, and filling your MP gauge again," he explained.

Rutee wondered how exactly an Inn worked, but Stahn didn't know either. It was one of those things a person knew about, but most likely not the inner workings of. Much like the world's technology such as Airships and Steamboats.

After sorting out all of their priorities, Stahn and Rutee rented a room at the Inn. As usual, Rutee was assaulted by a dream. Fire burned over a boat she'd never seen before. Everyone was running around and not thinking as the only rowboat burned. Nobody in the dream was somebody Rutee knew. But one woman who seemed to be looking for something gave her a feeling of warmth.

* * *

The next day, as they headed towards the cave, Rutee mentioned the dream to Stahn. "I don't know," he said, "Some dreams have no meaning. But others represent the past, present, or future. You have no way of telling which it is, so don't worry about it."

Rutee kept his words with her as they traveled towards Undine's cave. When they got there, Rutee asked, "Do you think it goes very far in?"

"I wouldn't know, I've never been here," replied Stahn.

He entered the cave, and motioned for Rutee to follow. Suddenly, Rutee spied a fish in the lake. She jumped in and began chasing it. Stahn ran alongside the lake, trying to catch up. When he finally managed, he saw Rutee and Vapor sitting by the lake with several fish on the floor.

"Let's get going little fish," joked Stahn.

Rutee got up and walked forward. Soon they came to a door with an odd seal on it. Instantly, she knew what to do. She took the scroll and placed it on the seal. It dissolved, and the door opened.

Inside was a room with a beautiful spring. Both humans gasped in awe. In the spring's center sat Undine, the water spirit.

"So you are a Summoner," said Undine, "Well, if you open your mind to the truth, you've passed my test." Suddenly, a mist washed over the young woman.

~ ~ ~ ~

The forest was burning. Animals were running every which way and trying to avoid the blaze. The only living things in the area were a Vaporeon and a girl in ornate clothing.

"Vapor. . .what are we to do? How are we going to get home?" inquired the child.

Vapor gave her master a lick in the face. "I don't know. I guess it's up to us to survive. Your mother is gone and we have no way of knowing how to get to a town. I don't know about you Rutee. . .but I'm scared." She jumped into Rutee's lap.

Rutee looked up at the sky and told her friend, "We must keep up hope. Remember, I'm a Katrea Sorceress, and a girl not to be trifled with."

~ ~ ~ ~

"I'm not a Pokèmon?!" exclaimed a surprised Rutee.

"Yes," replied Undine, "You have accepted the truth of your past, thus you have earned my powers. And this. . ." She handed Rutee a red scroll just like the one that opened Undine's door. "This will open the way to Efreet, the spirit of fire. He lives in the cave near Harmentz. Call me whenever you need my help in battle." With that, she vanished and a strange light entered Rutee.

"What was that?" asked Stahn. Rutee looked at him and smiled. "I don't know, but I'm sure that my destiny is much deeper than I ever believed."

- - - -

Well, I finally explained the fact that armor is invisible in detail. I also got into the Inns. The reason they didn't fight the Spirit (as was the way things worked in ToD II) is because the player hasn't fought with Summoned monsters/GFs/Eidilons/Aeons since Final Fantasy VI, and that was only a few of them.