Full summary:
"If you are predisposed to hate me, might as well just kill me now and save me from this misery...If I can't earn your love, you don't need me at all, at all, at all! Bah." -Journal entry in Sakura's diary.
Sakura is appears as a normal 18 year old girl to everybody but she has many secrets as everyone sets out to rescue Cisna who was kidnapped by the Magi. Secrets that could put everyone with her at risk...
~x~X~x~
*Disclaimer: I do not own White Knight Chronicles.*
Behind us we all heard Cisna scream. There was the man in black armor and the short person from the evil circus holding Cisna captive. Something black dropped from above making a loud boom and a lot of dust swirl around. The three got on, what was now reconized as, a metal anchor and began to rise into a ship above us. Leonard and me ran toward the anchor.
"Princess!" Leonard yelled.
"Cisna!" I screamed.
"Leonard, Sakura!" she called.
"Cisna!"
We could do nothing as we watched the monoship fly away with Cisna on it, to the north. There was only a few other times I had felt so helpless, this was one of the worst I ever felt.
Damn.
~x~X~x~
On that day, souls once parted came together again. It seemed like mere coincidence...But softly, sadly, the wheels of a cruel destiny had already begun to turn.
-Journal entry in Sakura's diary
~Hours later, now in the ballroom~
Everyone was in the ballroom standing by themselves, sadness filled the room. We were all affected by our inability to rescue Cisna though I was pretty sure me and Leonard were taking this the worst. I stood off to the side leaning against a pillar thinking about my own failure to protect my friend.
Cyrus fell to his knees as he stared at the coffin covered with a red banner that held the king. "It cannot be! The king cannot be dead!"
Cyrus slammed his fist on the floor. Sarvain knelt beside him. "Sir Cyrus, I share your pain but we must accept this. Sadly, we are the only ones who can hold this kingdom together. Think of Balandor."
"Sarvain, you do not share my pain." he snarled furiously through gritted teeth. "The king was like a father to me. He cared for me since I was a child. There is no Balandor without King Valtos."
"Ours was not the only leader lost. Do not forget, Sir, that Archduke Dalam of Faria is also dead. It is very likely that Faria will hold Balandor accountable for the archduke's murder. Presumably their governing council is still dominated by the War Faction, we must prepare the city for an almost certain invasion. Though it pains me greatly to say it, we have no time for grief."
I narrowed my eyes at Sarvain, he didn't seem as if he cared about the death of the king at all. Did he know this would happen? I was a possibility...
"For now, we have two priorities: rescue Princess Cisna and restore the kingdom. Put your sadness aside and remember your duty as captain of the Castleguard comes before your personal emotions."
Did this guy have any heart whatsoever? Cyrus just lost his only father figure a few hours ago and this man wanted him to get over it so fast, could've sworn he was made of stone. Hell, maybe he was. Never did like the man myself anyways. Always so suspicious...
Sarvain turned to look at Leonard who was sitting on the few steps that lead up to the coffins. "As for the boy—Leonard if I'm not mistaken? You hold the Knight's Ark and know how to control its power. That means you have made a pact with the Knight."
"Me? A pact?" Leonard looked up confused as he heard this last part.
"It is said that the Knight is a weapon of war crafted long, long ago by our predecessors, the Ancients. It was given to our predecessors, the Ancients. In their writings, they referred to it as the Incorruptus. When the great Cataclysm seventeen years ago opened the ground, long buried ruins were uncovered. Among them was the temple in which the Knight was found. We recovered it, and brought it here to the treasure vault." Sarvain explained.
"The king's scholars and scientists spent years studying the artifact, but for all their poking and prodding, they were never able to unlock its secrets. What we learned was that only people the Knight deems worthy have the right to wield its power: these are the Knight's Pactmakers. The ancient book would tell us no more than that..."
"Sarvain, he's just a boy," Cyrus argued, cutting into the explanation.
"Hey...Don't ask me how I unlocked it. I just did."
Sarvain walked towards Leonard and spoke in a seemingly softer tone. "Then the Knight has chosen you, lad, and there must be a reason. But that is a question for a later time, I'm afraid. Right now, I have a far more important task to set before you. You must hurry after the Princess at once, and use the Knight's power to rescue her from her captors."
"Hmm?" Leonard looked at Sarvain in either surprise, disbelief, or both.
"Are you mad?" Cyrus took a step forward.
"Just a darned minute!" Yulie snapped angrily. "Leonard isn't part of the royal army. Why send him?"
"The circumstances demand it. The villains who attacked us are a part of the group who worship the Ancients. We call them the Magi, because it's their ancient magic they use to summon forth their vicious beasts. They are powerful, but not powerful enough to stand against your Knight!"
"So what? Solve your own problems!" Yulie snarled, getting in his face.
"Pardon?"
"Yulie, it's okay. I'll do it," Leonard said deciding to join in.
"What? But—"
Leonard interrupted her and stood up. "She needs me. If I can help…" Leonard clenched his hand into a fist. "I want to."
"I am glad. Your kingdom will be grateful." Sarvain said.
"Then it's settled, is it?" the man said. Everyone looked at him in some degree of surprise. "We'd best hurry. The longer we tarry here, the further away they'll get."
"And you are…?" Sarvain asked.
"The name's Eldore…just a humble traveler," he replied. "but I can swing a sword and cast the odd spell or two. I'd wager I could be of help. Surely you weren't going to send him in alone?"
"Then allow me to join you!" Cyrus insisted stubbornly.
"No, impossible." Sarvain said, rebuking him.
I growled and narrowed my eyes. Did Cyrus really doubt us that much? It be easier on me to kill them both right now, but that wouldn't do any good. Not to mention add to the already high panic of the people.
"Your place is in the capital. I will need you and your men to help control the populace. People are frightened; with both the King and the Princess gone, you must be there to reassure them."
"And leave it to strangers to decide the Princess's fate?" Cyrus kept up his argument.
...The hell? Strangers? I stared at his neck. It wouldn't be too hard to just slice his jugular, or snap his bones... NO! I shook my head to rid myself of morbid thoughts. Though I didn't care for Sarvain, Cyrus was almost like a brother! ...Sort of.
"Whatever must be done. War with the Magi began the moment they beset the castle. Sir Cyrus, we must prepare to defend the realm!"
Cyrus seemed to lose his will to continue but looked as though he wanted to and said nothing more.
"We'll leave on the morrow. Tonight we rest in town." Eldore said.
~x~X~x~
A blue feathered owl with large elf like ears flew toward us and landed on Eldore's arm. "I sent out one of these bigelows to follow the Princess. As we journey, it'll keep us informed of exactly where she is, always..."
Leonard looked surprised that the bird could do such a thing. "The bird will find the Princess for us?" he asked confused.
Yulie came up and started to explain to poor, confused Leonard. "Two birds, Leonard. A pair of bigelows can communicate speech and images over long distances."
"That's some trick."
Eldore lifted his arm and let the bird fly away, "It appears that the Princess has been taken east toward the Nordia Tunnels. We must follow her there. But first, we should avail ourselves of the town's shops and prepare for the journey. It's going to be a long one."
I hung back and watched as they started walking off together. I didn't need to shop, all I required was my bag. Taking a last look at them, I set a course for Rapacci Wines.
When I reached the establishment I noticed that Leonard and them weren't here yet. The window of the room I was staying in was wide open, drawing a smirk onto my face. I looked around before setting a goal on getting through that window without any attraction.
I landed neatly on my feet on solid floorboards. All it took to get up her was a simple jump while no one was looking. I scoured the room until I found my bag. I threw it over my shoulder and put one leg through the window, but paused when I heard Rapacci's voice drift up from upstairs. Sounds like they decided to come here first. I shrugged and pulled my other leg through the window pane.
I arrived at the gate that we were supposed to leave from a lot earlier than the others. Setting the backpack down, I fell backwards onto the grass and stared up at the clouds. All this free time began leading to thinking.
Cisna. I seriously thought after I met her the first time I'd having a pretty damn low chance of ever encountering her again. When I was younger Mother had brought me to this town, straight to the castle. I met King Valtos who said I could call him father if I wished. While they had been talking I saw this young girl that looked a lot like me. In the end I ended up calling her sister.
We didn't stay for too long and left shortly after. About 2 months later, Mother died. And now that I think about it I was pretty sure that was Cisna I saw in that vision, when she got run through. Hmm, strange.
Another thing was Leonard. If I remembered correctly the villagers had busted me up good that time, breaking tons of bones, forcing me to stay in bed. When I awoke I was in Balandor. He and Rapacci found me and took me in for a few days, a kind act they decided to do. After a while I picked up on the fact that I'd have to leave pretty soon. On the exploration Leonard took me out on I told him I was going to have to leave. You know what happened after that. When I awoke I was in me bed, gripping the necklace that mysteriously appeared in my hand, all healed. I had got up out of bed and drew the boy's face best I could to remember him by.
What with all of these things from my past popping all of a sudden? And on my birthday to boot!
What the hell?
I silently seethed about my situation. I hoped to god nothing else would show up. That wouldn't be good. Nope not at all.
Out of the corner of my perpetual vision, I saw them. Well it was about time they finished their little shopping trip. Yulie came up to me first. "Hi Sakura how long have you been waiting."
I merely gave her a blank stare for an answer. It seemed to unnerve her as she backed away, sweatdropping. "Okay... You don't have to tell me."
I merely nodded before standing up, taking my bag in the process, and walked through the gate.
~x~X~x~
Eldore stopped walking, moments after stepping out onto Greydall Plain, leading Leonard to walk into him. "The Nordia Tunnels lie eastward, beyond this plain.
Leonard looked down. "Princess Cisna... We have to save her. We have to."
Yulie was walking around a little, hand blocking out the sun. "Eldore, you don't think they would have attacked the village do you, do you?"
"Who knows? Whatever the case we have to press on."
They, after that, were forced to fight different monsters that kept appearing. Sakura, without showing it, was all too happy to cut them down. Eldore commented at one point that 'We're wasting strength!' and 'Move your legs, not your mouth!'
"Have you guys heard of the Great Beast of Greydall plain?" She asked the group in general, they had just bested two trolls that had chanced upon them.
"The great what?" Leonard asked in confusion.
"The Great Beast, a massive creature that supposedly only reveals itself when you plant a specific flower at each of the three ancient gravestones that are scattered over the plain." Yulie explained mysteriously.
"You're kidding." Was it just me or was Leonard beginning to sound excited?
"Let's not start jumping at legends." Eldore cut in.
While Yulie looked around for a new subject to speak about, Sakura stared straight ahead. She didn't need this right now. She had more important things to think about. Take the bad feeling in her gut, for example, that kept growing. A beast was coming. A big one. She sighed. Dang, there always had to be something.
They had been making good time when the startled squawks of a flock of birds taking flight towards the horizon stopped them in their tracks.
As the noise quietened down, they looked around cautiously as the silence became deafening. The rocks made a clattering sound as they started tumbling down the nearby cliff face, alerting them to the presence on the ledge above them.
"Look!" Yulie pointed at the cliffs. "Something's moving over there!"
"So they're trying to stall us." Leonard said as his hand went to the sword on his waist as he gazed up at the giant white furred beast with massive tusks, thick as an average man sticking out from its lower jaw.
"No, that's a wild beast...and the servant of no man." Eldore explained. "That is the lord of Greydall Plain. "
"Well, I don't like the way he's looking back." Yulie put in, getting a bad feeling as the beast gave an ear splitting roar.
"Somehow I don't think he wants a belly rub!" Leonard agreed, finally pulling his sword out.
'Well we could when it eats us all.' Sakura thought as she heard Leonard's choice of words.
The Ahwahnee landed hard on its paws, after jumping, before charging towards them at a surprisingly fast speed causing them to leap out of the way.
"Sorry, but you're gonna have to let us by!" Leonard declared as he called forth his Ark.
~x~X~x~
"What a brute." Leonard stated as he stared at the unconscious beast. They had managed to knock it unconscious after some work.
"I'll say." Yulie muttered, walking up.
"Indeed." Eldore said. "But these beasts do not attack humans without provocation."
Eldore pondered for a moment. "Though I don't like to think it, it may be that they are responding to the Knight's awakening."
The others looked at Eldore in disbelief.
"So what are you saying, the Knight's power makes them go on the rampage?" Yulie asked.
Was he saying that the Knight's power can make docile beasts go berserk? Whilst true that animals could sense danger faster than humans, there was no way that the power a Knight possessed could simply stir such thoughts in them. Or could they sense a hidden darkness not even the greatest of Seers could see?
"It could be."
"Then...this fella wasn't really a bad guy?" Leonard asked, sounding sorry, and somewhat responsible for what had taken over the beast. He closed his eyes. "I'm sorry..."
As they walked off down the path towards the Nordia Tunnels, Sakura remained behind and took one last glance at the unconscious Ahwahnee.
'Already, this is sign of bad things to come.' She mused before following them.
~x~X~x~
I stared in boredom at the giant cave entrance that looked as if it was ready to swallow us up. Leonard took a few steps forward. "This must be the way in. Look how big!"
"People whisper about the Nordia Tunnels, but I'm about to walk through them!" Yulie said.
"Come on, let's go!" Leonard said enthusiastically apparently the only one who had yet to feel the weariness of the day's journey. He had not made a step towards the entrance when Eldore's hand came down on his shoulder stopping him.
"Wait. Before we go in, we should camp here and rest our bones a while." He advised.
"I don't need any rest!" Leonard said, impatient. "Come on!"
"Don't be a fool." Eldore snapped. "When I'm tired, my magic grows weak. You think we can get through without my spells?"
"Huh?"
"The man's got a point, Leonard." Yulie agreed.
"Fine." Leonard sighed heavily, giving in to their request.
It was not long after the moon had risen that the group could hear the chirping and see the form of the blue bigelow swooping down towards where they were gathered around the campfire. After perching on his arm and having what apparently looked like a mental communication with it, Eldore turned to the us.
"It seems we have established a connection with Princess Cisna." He told them. "Foz, show us."
The blue bigelow hopped off his arm and glided down onto the ground a few feet away then turned to stare at them. The bird's eyes glowed green before an intangible picture of Princess Cisna could be seen standing with her back to them.
"Princess!" Leonard whispered just loud enough so that the image of the Princess looked round in surprise until she saw they assumed was the bigelow bird that was with her. She then seemed to recognize the voice. "Huh? Hello?" She turned. "A bigelow! Then someone out there must be able to see me."
"You're safe they didn't hurt you."
"Leonard... Is that you? Yes, yes I'm safe. They have me locked in this room, but other than that..." Her voice seemed to waver before she moved onto more important issues. "Please, tell me, how are my people?"
"They are in good hands. Everyone is preparing for Your Highness' return." Eldore assured the image. "We have been sent ahead to rescue you. Worry not."
"I see..."
"Princess, where are you?" Leonard asked. "Can you tell us about your surroundings?"
"Well..." The Princess moved so that it looked like she was gazing out of a nearby window before turning back to the bigelow. "I see sand, endless golden sand. I think we must be flying over a desert."
"A desert...? The Lagnish Desert?" Eldore pondered.
The next second, the Princess spun round suddenly as if hearing something, saying, "Someone's coming-" before the image of her disappeared. Leonard reached out as if he could stop it. "Wait, Princess!"
~x~X~x~
"Alright. If they're in the desert, there's only one place they could be heading." Eldore explained to the others as they gathered round a map he had of the continent spread out over one of the abandoned barrels near the Tunnels entrance. "The town of Albana. I've heard that the Cataclysm unearthed some ancient ruins near there. Perhaps that's what they're after?"
The Cataclysm? Was he referring to that day seventeen years ago when a enormous earthquake shook the whole continent, later revealing ancient the ruins at what was now known as the Dogma Rift?
"If we're going to Albana, we'll have to pass through the Tunnels then cross the Lagnish Desert." Yulie concluded.
"Indeed." I was beginning to think that, that was his favorite word. "But tonight, we sleep. We'll enter the tunnels first thing tomorrow. Good night."
The others took the hint and retired to their makeshift quarters for the night. Although Leonard, Yulie and Eldore went to their tents to sleep, Sakura however went and sat down in front of the campfire. Leonard paused before entering his set up tent. She watched him stare up into the starry night sky and whisper, "Be safe."
R&R