Sorry for updating so late, summer school consumed most of my time. Anyway, this is part two of chapter five 'Light of Meridian No More'. Things are heating up as our heroes notice that not everything is like what meets the eye. There is something amiss within the dark alley's of Meridian. The past returns to haunt Metamoore once more; as an insidious plan is set in motion. Will our heroes solve the mystery before Meridian is reduced to ashes? Enjoy the new chapter!
Chapter Guest Starring: Elyon, Caleb, Ari, Yua, Maqi
Disclaimer: I do not own W.i.t.c.h. comics or tv series along with all the characters related.
Chapter 5: Light of Meridian No More
Act 2: A Series of Encounters
Act Guest Starring: Gérard, Odec, Miriadel, Padja, Kelben, Helena, Ujar, Blorn
Meridian, Three weeks earlier
Kelben pulled the empty bucket out of the well. He stared at it for awhile with great dissapointment; even the mud had dried up. The old man climbed up the stairs slowly. Things weren't going good at all; first his granddaughter got sick and now they didn't have water. Metamoorians had all the full wells in their territory and wouldn't let any Arkhantian close by. Padja turned to her grandfather as he entered the main room with an empty bucket. The five year old wasn't surprised, she had learned not to hope much ever since she started living in Meridian.
"Oh! You're awake. I just went down to bring some water." He then remembered the dry well. His head hanged down in dissapointment. "I'm sorry Padja..."
Little Padja smiled at him, the girl really admired her grandfather's devotion towards her health. She wished she wasn't such a burden. Padja was trying hard to straighten up, but the fever overcome her strength. Kelben caught her before she hit her head on the wall.
The girl looked at him with her eyes shining like two sapphires "Thanks grandpa. When do think mom will be home?"
Kelben smiled at the little girl "She'll be here soon my dear child, real soon. Now, go to sleep. You need to rest if you're to be healthy again." Padja's mother Helena had been working at the fields till late night. His son, Padja's father, was a soldier who fought bravely against the darkness that consumed Arkhanta. He was one of the many who remained behind to guard the portal.
Padja nodded and closed her eyes. The old man layed an extra blanket on his granddaughter and kissed her on the forehead. Just as he was leaving to buy some water from the bazaar, he heard Padja's voice.
"What if it comes again tonight? I'm scared granpa... Please, don't leave me!" Tears flowed from her crystal blue eyes. Kelben heard from Helena that Padja was having nightmares. Almost every night she saw a creature of horror in a plain of corrupted soil. The entity then would demand something from her, something she never remembered...
Kelben pulled a stool near Padja's bed and sat there. "Don't worry. I'll stay by your side until your mother comes home. Okay?" asked the old man as he combed the girl's short blonde hair. Soon she fell asleep.
Padja was afraid; she was in that shadowy land again. The girl thought it might have been a beautiful place once but now it reflected her greatest fears. Plains, mountains on the horizon, even dead trees... all were way too familiar in a strange way. She took one step back and stepped on a dry leaf. A painful scream deafened her as the leaf crumbled into dust. The little girl somewhat knew that it was the leaf that screamed and now more sounds came to her. Every leaf, every stone, every drop of water, every tree, every handful of soil... Padja could hear the land suffering.
"This is what became of your world little one. Here is Arkhanta."
Padja's eyes opened wide with the words of the voice. She then shook her head in disbelief, the creature was trying to trick her again. Yet... now that it spoke the name of her homeworld, Padja remembered the high plain she and her parents used to go for picnics.
"Why...? Why did you do this? I loved this place... Mom and dad loved it too."
"If it will comfort you, it wasn't me who did this. It was someone of... my kind. Yet what was once darkness shall return back to it's origin. It's the cycle of; life and death, existence and oblivion, good and evil, light and darkness-"
Padja cut in "Is there no escape from this... Can't you stop it!" She desperately waited for a positive answer.
"No... Such a feat is beyond me, for the moment. But fear not, there are people who will save all from our arrival. The only thing we need is patience." The entity wasn't paying full attention to the child as it was staring at the sky of Arkhanta and beyond.
The little girl wasn't that patient. She wanted to go home and live happily together with her family again "Please! You must end this! I'll do anything to help you!"
The entity was suddenly interested "Anything? Are you aware what you're wishing for? For I'll need your body and your soul will go to Oblivion." It had to make sure Padja accepted it with all her heart.
It took some time for her to answer "Yes... I'll do it. But can mom and grandpa come with me too?"
The creature looked relieved "Then I'll grant your wish little Padja. Your family will accompany you on your journey. Now relax, it won't hurt a bit..."
Kelben woke up from his nap and saw Padja glowing with dark aura. He immediately stood up tried to touch his graddaughter only to be shocked by dark lightning. The old man then crawled on the floor while Padja slowly levitated upwards from her bed. Kelben leaned back against the wall and watched the black aura turn into first silver then into white. Kelben was completely frozen in fear.
Padja descended on her feet; she turned her face to Kelben and pointed her palm towards him. "You're going with your granddaughter, Kelben." She then fired a white beam at him. Kelben shook with pain but as light covered him he felt more serene. He saw the spirit of Padja within the light, she was calling to him. Kelben held his granddaughter's hand. He didn't even look back at his body which was reduced to ashes...
The entity, who now possessed Padja's body, chanted an ancient spell. Her body changed drastically as she transformed into young woman in her early twenties. Now not only was she older, she also had nothing in common with the little girl in appearance anymore. The entity then heard footsteps near the door. Helena opened the door.
"Sorry, I'm late! Is Padja sleeping, father-OH MY!" Helena stopped as she saw the girl standing at the end of the room. "Who are you? Where is my daughter!"
"They are waiting for you, Helena." The entity sent another white beam. Helena slowly started to see Padja and Kelben as her spirit left her disintegrated body. Padja happily looked at the people she loved. Kelben was holding her left hand and Helena was holding her right. All three of them walked to the black hole that appeared before them.
The entity was watching their last journey into Oblivion. Padja suddenly turned around and waved at her. The young girl waved back, then all three of the family members entered the black hole. After the gate to Oblivion disappeared the entity wore the clothes of Helena. It was a tight fit for she was too tall. She noticed a ribbon on a table in room and braided her long brown hair with it. The entity gazed at the night sky of Meridian with her deep gray eyes. She waved her hand parallel to the floor opening a portal. Beyond the portal large concrete buildings and skyscrapers could be seen. She then entered the portal leading to Earth.
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Meridian, The present, The night of full moon sky landing, Two hours before midnight
Streets were still crowded in Meridian despite the late hour. People seemed to have forgotten the recent events and were enjoying the cool night beneath the full moon. Nearly every store were open to serve their customers and Odec's bakery was not an exception. Everyone nearby could smell the famous cookies of the old baker. Although, Odec had no customers at the moment, except for an infamous person. He was slowly getting tired of Gérard's persistence.
"Do you have any idea the risk I'm taking by just talking to you? Now get of here before someone sees you!" Odec looked outside the window to check if anyone was eavesdropping. The baker really wasn't in a position to get caught with him!
The man before Odec had the looks of a bum yet his eyes glimmered with intelligence. He was thin and had greenish skin with reptilian features. The sly man was a Greseh, a race that formed the majority of Metamoore. "Come on Odec! Really would appreciate the little gift o'yours. For old times sake; remember the day I saved yer butt from Ujar and his brutish protegé Blorn. T'was quite a close call..."
Odec didn't have to be reminded that he was almost arrested by the palace guard. Even though the baker was saved by Gérard, it was that fraud who caused the problem in the first place "Rrrrr!... Alright! You have a point. Here you go, but you should go now. And don't you dare forget my favour!" The baker was sometimes too soft hearted for his own sake...
Gérard took the box full of cookies with a huge grin "Will always remind me self pops! See ye around Odec-OH CRAP!!!" The crook immediately hid under the counter.
From his position Odec could see two figures approaching the bakery in the night. He had a good guess about their identities and Gérard's reason to hide from them, but still he couldn't help asking "What happened?"
"Shhh!" Gérard's face showed nothing but fear "Don't gimme me away! I'll owe you two, Odec!" The baker knew what would happen should the crook were to be caught by two particular persons.
"Sigh... Just stay where you are." Yeah, he was too kind for his own sake...
Caleb and Elyon had been walking in the crowded streets of Meridian. It was a cold night yet the happiness of the people surrounding them kept their hearts warm. The couple was having a good time yet both were troubled that they couldn't even start a long lasting conversation. Each attempt had ended with an abrupt silence. Elyon was talking a lot... in her mind. She wanted to say and ask so many things yet every thought got caught in the filter of her courage.
Caleb decided to add a third person to liven up the conversation plus there was a present that a friend of his could give Elyon. He greeted Odec as they entered the bakery. "Long time no see Odec. I hope you haven't closed yet?"
The old baker was cheered up with the sight of his old friend. He didn't need to act in order to hide Gérard; the old man had already forgotten about him! "Of course not Caleb! Why don't you and your lady companion have a seat? I've just baked a party of cookies, fresh from the oven!" Odec of course had noticed that the young girl was the queen of Meridian but he found protocols unnecessary for the moment.
The baker took a tray out of the oven and gave them each one cookie. Caleb encouraged the hesitant Elyon "Try one, these are the best you can find in Metamoore."
Elyon wasn't sure as Metamoorian food didn't suit human tastes. She slowly took a bite and waited for the worst "Um!... It's delicious! And I thought I'd never find decent food on... um, sorry..." She immediately turned red with embarassment.
Odec laughed at the young queen's goof "Nah! No offence taken your highness. It just that Earth food hasn't been demanded ever since the-... your birthday, Light of Meridian. Most of the cooks left their job after that particular day, since there were no custumers anymore, save for one." His smile faded away with the memories of those dark days.
"Oh! It must have been quite..." Elyon realizing who Odec had served after the great purge.
"Unpleasent. His demands and complaints were pratically endless. Luckily I was the only cook avaliable, or alive, therefore he couldn't dispose of me. But now I'm happy with managing this little bakery. Cookies are the only common taste of Metamoorians and humans share." Odec smiled; happy that he managed to change the subject.
"Well Odec, I'd really like to have the recipe of these!" asked Elyon now completely carried away from her troubles.
Odec leaned over the counter and whispered to her "Between you and me, your majesty. The recipe originaly belonged to Queen Leryn; it was passed on to many people and finally to me. So I guess it's your right to learn it after all. I can show you how it's done right now."
Beneath the counter Gérard was simply cursing his luck. He was now sure that the baker had completely forgotten about him 'Damn you, Odec! Why can't you just let them go?...' He moved slightly to gain a better position, which was immediately noticed by a pair of sharp eyes.
"That would be great!" said Elyon happily. "Shall we go down to the ovens, Caleb?"
Caleb, at the moment, was more intrested in the counter and the person under it. "You go Eyon, I have a few things do anyway." Elyon looked him with a slight hint of disappointment but regained her excitement when Odec walked her to a door that led to the underground ovens.
Caleb waited until Odec shut the door tight. He then started strolling in front of the counter "So, who do we have here?" Caleb hold the edge of the counter and turned it over revealing the person hiding under it. The former rebel leader smirked with delight as he saw Gérard's green face turn yellow out of fear.
"Um, hi Caleb... No time no see." Gérard started to sweat unconrollably.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't my favourite small time crook Gérard. Haven't seen you around lately. Are you running from someone!" Caleb quickly grabbed his collar and slammed him to the wall.
"T'was all a little mistake! I swear, me never meant to tell Cedric. Y'know, he's good at shapeshifting, lying, decieving etc. What the heck! I was hypnotized!"
Caleb's eyes glowed white with Gérard's lowly words "Yeah, by a sack of gold, you slimey bastard! Your treachery caused Simca's death!" Anger caused something to awaken in Caleb, something he never wished to happen again. White energy flowed out of him sending small lightnings to the surroundings.
Now Gérard was truly in terror "Ye see how good that lizard is; now can I go?-OUCH!" White energy surged from Caleb's hand to his throat shocking him. "Look man, let's be civilized for a moment and talk this out-OWWWW!!!" A punch broke his nose.
Caleb readied his fist for another punch "There are two languages you understand Gerard. One is money, which I don't intend to waste on you, and the other is a good beating, which I'm quite fond of delivering to you!" The next punch hit Gérard in the stomach.
"OWWPPHHH!!!! Aww man... Alright, alright! I beg ye! Please stoppit! I'll tell ye anything!"
"So spill it out! What the hell you were doing here?"
Right at the same time two young Arkhantians walked into the bakery. They both drew crossbows and pointed them at a puzzled Caleb and an extremely relieved Gérard. But as soon as the youngsters had a better look at who they were aiming at, they hesitated.
"Oh!... um... it's him. What do we do now, Arthas?" asked the first Arkhantian without letting his eyes off them.
"Don't just stand there Fred. Say something you buffoon!" said the other one.
The one called Fred pointed his crossbow in a threathening way towards them "Do not make a move or it'll be your last! Hand us all the money now!"
After hearing the conversation that passed between those two thieves, Caleb knew he had nothing to fear about. But there was something he noticed "Strange... You two seem to have recognize me but the only Arkhantian who saw me in person was Lord Ari. Who are you, really?"
"By Imdahl, curse him!" Fred realized the mistake he made but it was too late.
Mentioning the name of the ancient Metamoorian deity comfirmed Caleb's thoughts "You're not Arkhantians. You're just impersonating them aren't you!" Their performance were really bad compared to Cedric, and Caleb had seen many of his tricks. These kids' were mere amateurs.
The robbers decided to drop the act and both shapeshifted in to their original form "It's none of your business Caleb, this is for the salvation of Meridian. Boss told us that we'll save this city from the alien plague that infested it!"
Caleb had enough of their nonsense and insults towards Arkhantians "You dare speak of innocent people as if they were a disease!"
Caleb drew his sword quickly and lunged towards them. The experienced warrior made a spin which enabled him to evade Arthas's crossbow bolt and hit Fred with the hilt of his sword. He then used the unconscious thief's body as a shield and advanced towards the second thief. The youngster couldn't risk shooting his friend so he retreated backwards and soon found himself cornered. Caleb swiftly slammed the unconscious thief on him and with a swing of his sword disarmed him. The thief raised his hand indicating that he surrendered. The fight ended quickly and decisively.
When Caleb finally had a good look at the teenagers he saw that they were really poor and desperate. He felt pity for them "Tell you what; you're still kids. If you show me where your 'boss' is then I'll let you two leave under the condition that you'll not steal again. Deal?"
Arthas pointed towards the door with a glimmer of hope in his eyes "We don't know where boss is, but the one gave us the order just went off. Honestly!" At the same time Fred was slowly coming around.
"You mean Gérard!?" He had completely forgotten about him during the whole chaos. Caleb rebuked at his carelesness in letting him slip away!
"Yeah, that was his name. He usually hangs around in Raven's Nest. We don't know more, I swear!" Both imposters were on the edge, fearing that the former rebel leader, now personal bodyguard of light of Meridian, would change his mind.
Caleb gave a heavy sigh and waved his hand towards the door "Alright... you can go." The youngsters didn't waste the generous offer and ran out the bakery as fast as they could.
Half an hour later Elyon and Odec came in from the underground ovens. Fortunately there was enough time for Caleb to clean up the mess.
"Caleb! I hope I didn't make you wait too long. For a moment I thought Odec would take me to the core of Metamoore! I had no idea that ovens here were built beneath the ground." Elyon continued to talk about the things Odec showed her as they both walked to the doors of the bakery.
"Goodbye Caleb! And see you soon lass! Don't forget to drop once once in a while."
They both said their goodbyes and walked into the streets of Meridian. Elyon suddenly gave Caleb a cookie. The former rebel leader first looked at the queen with questioning eyes then took a bite of the cookie, it was obviously fresh out of oven.
Elyon watched Caleb and she got worried when Caleb's eyes widen "How is it?" she asked shyly.
"Umm!... It's amazing!... Something is different about this one... I think Odec added a bit more hujl (a sweet plant that grows on Metamoore) and szecan (plant oil that tastes similar to butter)... It seems that Odec has given you one made with Leryn's special recipy."
Elyon smiled at Caleb. The young queen wiped her sleeves, which had small stains of flour and chocolate, while he was looking elsewhere.
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"You must get out of here! It's not safe! They've come to destroy all of us!" Yua looked at the skies and saw the foul tempest that was descending upon the swamps, the only place she accepted as home so far. So far... She wasn't sure about that anymore. The banshee hoped her sisters would see the danger. Darkness was coming closer with each passing second.
"Here is our home Yua; we were born from the swamps and we will be one with it again in the end." None of the banshees seemed be acknowledging the arriving apocalypse. How could they not understand it! What they said didn't make any sense at all. Once she used to think like them, but now she wanted survive.
"It... It doesn't have to be this way! We might have a chance against them if we just-" The urge to survive... a concept alien to magical creatures. One born from nature itself never experienced the end. Should such creatures die, they would be reborn again. Their only fear was captivity and their only hatred were towards their captors. Survival had no meaning for banshees or fairies. Yet Yua...
"Ally ourselves with humans? Hmph! What you're trying to say is preposterous, sister." No fairy had love for humans. Those creatures had almost no respect for nature and its creations.
"You have been acting strange ever since you escaped from Ari, Yua." Indeed she was... Even if she wouldn't admit it; Yua had seen and experienced many things. Apart from the fabric of nature and magic lore, she had little knowledge about the world beyond the swamps.
"Something has changed you, sister. If didn't know you at all, I'd say you are almost... human." That also, was true. Observing humans made Yua see the world from a different perspective. But most importantly she now could experience emotions she had never felt before. Sadness, compassion, happiness, disappointment, hope and many more...
"It's not the time to judge me! Our lives are at stake! Why do you insist on dying here while there is a chance for you to survive? Why?"
"If you can't answer that by yourself, then there's no way we can explain it to you."
"And this can only mean that you're no longer one of us, Yua." Instincts led a banshee through its eternal life; by being able to defy her own instincts Yua proved that she wasn't a fairy anymore.
Tears flowed down from Yua's eyes "Sisters-"
But banshees were evil in nature, none would pity her nor would have second thoughts "Leave the swamps. You do not belong here Yua..."
Then it arrived... The dark entity rained destruction over Arkhanta with black magic and its army of shadows began to ravage everything in sight. Her sisters' voices echoed in her mind over and over again. She could hear them crying for help "Yua. Yua! YUA!!!"
"Wh-what!?! What happened!?" Suddenly she found herself in darkness, when she opened her eyes she saw Ari's face. Oddly, he looked concerned.
"You dozed off." Ari's answer was plain and simple. Actually he wouldn't wake her up even if it were an pressing situation but Yua was talking in her sleep and rolling, which was quite dangerous considering they were on a roof twelve meters high from the ground. "You were having a nightmare, weren't you?"
"Y-It's none of your business!" She couldn't believe she almost admitted having a nightmare, yet he did sound concerned. Yua quickly changed the subject "Have you seen anyone suspicious yet?"
Ari gave her the binoculars he was using "Well, there were two who just entered the bakery."
Yua looked at the bakery and saw some movement in the building "And why are we still waiting here then?" Then she looked at Ari with suspicion "Wait... I hope you're not going to let them rob Odec, just so we can follow them?" The old baker was one of the few people who actually didn't care of her being a banshee. And Yua liked his cookies too. She'd be really sad if poor Odec got hurt.
Ari was pretty calm about the whole situation "No need to worry. Caleb and Elyon are in there. If they are robbers, they'll get caught in no time." Two commons thieves had no chance against Caleb let alone Elyon. At that moment they both spotted someone sneaking out of the bakery through one of the windows.
"Aahhh!" Yua felt a sharp pain in her head. She couldn't help thinking that something similar had happened to her before. Yet she wasn't able to remember it.
"Are you alright?" When he realized the banshee was fine he scanned their surroundings just in case there were someone who noticed them. Fortunately Yua's scream wasn't that loud and nobody seemed to have heard it.
"That Metamoorian... I sensed incredible amount of negative energy in him!" The energy was familiar... disturbingly similar to something she felt before. Still she couldn't remember.
Soon they saw the two youngsters running away from the bakery. This proved that they intended to rob the bakery. From the beginning of these events, Ari had been suspecting that there was something more than met the eye. And now there was a Metamoorian possessing an incredible amount of negative energy, who happened to sneak out of a bakery, which was about to be robbed. Coincidence? "It seems there's another player in the game. Let's follow him."
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Warren's Plaza
In Warren's Plaza reside the great statue of Escanor sculpted by the best artists of the time. It was one of the few images of the saviour of Metamoore that survived till now. The statue had seen both golden and dark ages of Meridian. And in the darkest age it was transmuted into the image of Phobos by Johnathan Ludmoore sixteen years ago on the day of the great purge, so that people would remember the tyrant's might upon them. Fortunately, the statue was restored to it's original state by Elyon after Phobos's reign came to an end. Gérard sat down near the statue; he was exahausted and had some serious bruises.
Blorn scoured the crowd in hopes of spotting Ujar. He and captain Miriadel had been missing for ages! Although the young palace guard knew his superior wouldn't do anything like that he couldn't help imagining his master in a tavern, drunk, bragging about his old glorious days.
Ujar didn't have the best record among the palace guard; he had been a part of the seige of Nevres and was lucky enough to be only knocked unconscious by the air guardian of the time. But after Phobos took control of Meridian, he finally saw the errors of his ways and became one of the co-founders of the first rebellion along with Alborn, Miriadel, Rjhal, Duswald, Ciora, Torghal, Gérard and their leader Simca. After order was restored, he became the honorary blademaster and captain of the newly formed palace guard. His skills with his halberd Ywetra, which meant Serpent Slayer, was legendary. The weapon got it's name after Ujar forced Cedric to retreat in an one to one battle. It was still remembered by many former rebels. Blorn couldn't be more proud for having someone like Ujar as a teacher.
'Guess I'll have to wait till they meet this informant of their's.' Blorn continued with his cover as a patrolling guard and looked out for any suspicious persons. The young warrior really wanted to get his hands on one of those thieves.
At the same time two guards were watching Warren's Plaza from an alley. Captain Miriadel and Ujar were waiting for Gérard. There were numerous reports from patrolling guards that he was seen exiting Raven's Nest; a place where no sane person entered. They had been waiting for nearly an hour. Ujar tossed a coin in the air.
"Heads." And heads it was.
The old blademaster was impressed by Miriadel's talent in guessing such things accurately. Yet, this game was nothing more than a way to kill time "I wish you had this luck with finding your 'ex-fiance'."
"Don't dare call him that again!"
"No need to be offensive. Are you sure he'll come here? I mean this is the last place he'd show up considering-"
"There he is!" Miriadel drew her dagger but was stopped by Ujar before she throw herself into the town square.
"Hold your horses, miss! First make him talk, then kill him. Understand?" The old blademaster didn't let her go till she held her anger down.
"...Alright... I'm calm... I don't want to skin him alive... yet." Though it could be seen she was on the verge. Miriadel hid her dagger within her cloak and slowly walked towards the statue of Escanor where Gérard was sitting.
At the same time Gérard was checking his injuries; there were some nasty bruises. Caleb sure had a heavy hand! "Stupid Caleb! Now I have to lay low for awhile and..." It was then he saw Miriadel approaching him with a not too sincere smile on her face. Gérard sighed with defeat "And just as I thought this night couldn't get any worse..."
"Hi there 'honey'. I haven't seen you for quite sometime." She whispered her next words into his ear during the fake hug. "In fact, I believe it was when Cedric and his men attacked our hideout."
"You know I never intended to do that, yet being killed wasn't the best for me-" Gérard felt a sharp thing touching his belly beneath Miriadel's cloak. She then dragged him to an empty alley, away from unwanted attention.
Now she could speak straight forward "Right... So first you snitched us to Cedric, then you run away while many good people got slaughtered!"
"That summarizes it... I guess... Please don't kill me!" Yet the crook somehow knew he was out of chances this time.
"You can't escape your fate Gérard. But you will have the chance to do some good. If you answer my questions properly, at least your pathetic life won't be a complete waste." And the conversation continued for awhile...
On the otherside of Warren's Plaza Blorn saw Ujar while he was on his route "Here you are, master! Have I missed anything?"
The blademaster pointed the alley where Miriadel was interrogating Gérard "Not quite. She's getting the information as we speak."
What Blorn saw surprised him; the captain's way of questioning was harsh! He never thought Miriadel could get serious when it came such tasks. "Um... Why is captain Miriadel beating the crap out of him? I thought he was reliable."
"Reliable!? In your dreams! That man sold the rebellion for a bag of gold. That man's Gérard!"
"That traitor!!! No wonder captain is wiping the wall with him. He deserves no less!"
"It's not only that. You see, they were once engaged."
Now that was something new for Blorn. He always thought Miriadel's only partner was Alborn. "I have a good hunch that it didn't end well."
"It never began at the first place. He left her at the altar. It was the same night when Cedric and his men brought an end to the first rebellion." said Ujar with almost no trace of emotion.
"Even though I hate say it; he should have stand trial at the royal court and be punished properly. Though he'd probably be sentenced to death for his crimes."
"Nah! Queen Elyon would most likely forgive him and give him another chance. Miriadel is making sure that no such thing happens." Miriadel stabbed Gérard with her dagger as Ujar finished his sentence. It seemed that she got what they needed from him.
Miriadel wasn't done though, with a slash of her rapier she cut off Gérard's head. Then she threw the head into a dumpster. "Aw man! Was that even necessary! I mean, I've never saw captain like this before. She's... plain scary now."
Ujar had rather simple answer for that "That's because you always see her when she's with Elyon." Yeah... Blorn couldn't deny that fact.
After she hid Gérard's corpse deep in the alley, Miriadel reported to Ujar "Alright, he didn't tell me much. But apparently Rhjal was going to meet him in the sewers at dawn. He was even kind enough to draw a map for us."
Ujar was shocked by the news "Rhjal! I thought he was dead!" He then took the map from Miriadel and examined it "Let's not waste any time then. It'll be hard to find the meeting spot."
Blorn got confused by his master's last stament "Why is that?"
Ujar showed him the map "His drawing is terrible!"
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In a dark alley lay Gérard's headless corpse, far from the eyes of the people of Meridian. None of those simple folk would want to witness what was about to happen. Suddenly, Gérard's headless body stood up and searched the alley for its head. After some unsuccessful attempts he gave up looking for it. "ARRGGHHH!!! Why did she had to rip off the entire head?!" Then he started to change and in few seconds he took the shape of a young girl (with a head of course).
Ari and Yua had witnessed the entire event; from Miriadel's torture to Gérard's death and his shapeshifting. Not to mention his rather astonishing self-resurrection! Both of them were completely flabbergasted. They couldn't stop staring at Gérard until he got out of sight. Yua was the first to snap out of it.
"What the hell is that, man... or girl?" The banshee was dazzled by Gérard's amazing feat, she was certain that he was dead. His spiritual and magical energy weren't existant for minutes. And now he was walking as though nothing had happened!
The lord of Arkhanta was having a hard time with focusing on the matter at hand, but he forced himself to analyze the situation "At least this proves we're on the right track. Whatever Miriadel learned from him... um... her, must be important."
Yua was also trying to regain her concentration, the confusion was actually becoming painfull "She... or he... Urgghh! Let's agree with he for the time being!... He unleashed enough magic energy for me to track him down."
At last there was a course of action, Ari immediately stated their objectives "Okay then, we'll follow him. Find out who's he working for and what they are planning to gain from this chaos." Now that they knew what to do, everything become clearer. The effect of Gérard's display was wearing off.
"He didn't exhibit any other magical power but we should be ready for everything." The banshee was going to be cautious. After all, self-resurrection wasn't something you see every day!
Ari thought about a way to kill him for good but he couldn't come up with anything. He then turned towards Yua "Can you destroy him if it becomes necessary?" He hated the idea of depending on Yua but he had no other choice at the moment.
The banshee's hand ignited with green fire; a magical flame that couldn't be extinguished by mundane means, and which burn only the living "He'll have to regenerate from his ashes." answered Yua with a grin.
Ari smiled faintly, he was actually getting used to the banshee. Yet there was still a long time before they could completely get over their mutual hatred towards each other. If anyone could call it hatred now that is. They both continued to pursue the person who was supposedly Gérard; unaware that someone else was trailing them too.
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To be continued...
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Note 1: Padja is the girl carrying woods in issue#28 and although her mother is seen too, her name is not mentioned.
Note 2: Due to increased lenght of the chapter there will be five parts in total. I really don't know when I'll upload part 3.
Note 3: Visit my profile to see the profiles of my original and (heavily) altered canon characters, and a glossary of my additions to W.i.t.c.h. universe. I'll update my profile as the story progresses.
Note 4: Constructive critisms please...