Disclaimer:  I do not own the wonderful Mana-ish-ness.  Legend of Mana belongs only to Squaresoft…

Author's Note:  I know people say that I shouldn't write about the smaller events that aren't part of the three major storylines ( i.e. – The Jumi Story, the Irwin Story, and the Dragoon Story. ) because they aren't really important.  But I feel that even these small events are important in their own small, subtle ways.  Also, I'm going to change them a bit so that they can fit my story better.  (By adding that new bad guy =P)

Plus people have also been commenting on how my story doesn't follow the LoM story EXACTLY...  Well I assume you've all played the game before, so what would be the fun in reading the exact same game all over again??  I'm just trying to fill in the holes and add more fun to the game's storyline by giving everything a little extra zest ^_~.  A few things will be completely changed, but nothing so drastic that it's not LoM anymore.

On with the fanfic!!

Chapter 9:  The Weakest Link

Reia and Lisa had just walked into the house when Bud dashed over to the Mana Guardian, bright-eyed and grinning.  "Hey!  Now that you're done weeding the backyard and all…  Can we go search for more Wisdoms?"

"Well…"  Reia glanced towards Lisa questioningly.  She didn't like leaving one of the elven mages alone.  "Are you sure you can stay home by yourself again, Lisa?"

The young elf girl nodded confidently and smiled.  "It's alright Reia.  I'll just stay here and defend the fort.  Am I allowed to go talk to Trent?"

"Well…I'm sure he's probably lonely in the backyard..."  Reia glanced over to a window that faced the backyard orchard where Trent resided. The enormous tree appeared to be watching the world around him with a serene expression of contentment.  His branches swayed lazily in the drifting breezes and the gentle rustling of his leaves was like a sweet lullaby.

"He seems harmless enough."  Reia said, nodding towards her apprentice.  "It's probably alright for you to go speak with him."

"Thank you!  Have fun hunting Wisdoms!"  Without another word, Lisa sprinted out the door and towards the orchard.  She loved flowers and gardens that were filled with plant-life.  So naturally, Trent was simply fascinating to her.  Imagine!  A tree that could actually talk!  Meanwhile, Bud hopped impatiently from one foot to the other. 

"Can we go now?"

Already, the young elf mage had his frying pan and other equipment with him.  Nothing excited the little elf more than knowing he would be able to meet the wise and fabled Wisdoms that dotted the land.  Chuckling lightly, Reia nodded her head a bit as she started to head back out the door.  "Alright Bud, let's go."

The two adventurers stood on the dusty road that lead off of Reia's property and paused for a moment.  There were only a few places left to search for Wisdoms… 

Domina, the Mekiv Caverns, and Luon Highway... 

Domina certainly didn't have any Wisdoms… if it did, the whole town would have known by now and probably would've used the Wisdom as one huge tourist attraction.  The Mekiv Caverns didn't have anything but monsters inside.  Reia was sure of that.  Luon Highway had Gaeus, but no other Wisdoms resided within its rocky pathways…

Reia brightened.  Now was the perfect time to use more artifacts!  She hastily dug around her traveling pack and pulled out four items, holding them out for Bud to see.  A stone eye, a firefly lamp, a medallion, and a strange object that looked like a burning flame.

Since it was Bud's idea to search for the Wisdoms, why not let him choose their next destination? 

The purple-haired elf peered at the magical objects inquisitively and then looked up at his master.  "What're these?"

"They're artifacts."  Reia answered with a smile.  She could feel the pulsing energy of Mana swarming within the items she held in her hands.  "They're like keys that unlock hidden places to us.  Pick one, and we'll continue our search."

"Cool!"  Bud's eyes grew round as he picked through the artifacts eagerly.  His hand rested gently upon the Stone Eye.  It was just about the weirdest looking thing he had ever seen in his life... and anything that weird had to be special somehow… Right? 

"Let's use that one!"

Nodding her head, the Guardian of Mana put away the rest of the artifacts and then held the stone eye in her hands.  She felt a bit squeamish about holding such a thing and closed her eyes slowly as she concentrated upon the mystic object.  Its smooth, cool surface suddenly grew warm and sticky.  Reia could almost swear that it had moved and nearly dropped it.  In a matter of moments the Stone Eye flew from her hands and shot out towards a new area where it impacted the earth with a pulse of Mana energy.  Bud and Reia watched in fascination as a blackish purple mist rose up where the Stone Eye had landed.  Rain began to pour from the sky as waves of water burst outwards from the area and flashed to form a beautiful lake surrounded by trees and greenery.  Sunlight danced across the water's still surface adding an even more mystical touch to the wondrous area.  This was Lake Kilma…

Bud was ecstatic.  "Wow!!  That was AMAZING!!  …. Can we do it again???"

Reia smiled and shook her head as she started heading towards the new lake.  "Next time.  Let's just explore the new area, shall we?"

"OK!"

The Mana Guardian and her apprentice passed into the forested area that surrounded the lake and continued down a dirt path… It didn't take them long to discover that the rest of the way was completely blocked off by a motley crew of pirates! 

Uhh... Well...… No…  Not really pirates...

They were Penguins?… Pirate penguins…?

Both Bud and Reia couldn't help but stare as the strange group squabbled together before them.  Then, they held back and took cover behind a few bushes, just to observe the bizarre pirate crew. 

All of them... every single one of them... was a penguin. 

Well, almost all of them. 

The captain happened to be a rather bulky looking walrus who appeared rather fitting to be a pirate leader.  A black patch was over one eye and a scabbard was in its sheath at his side.  His clothing was mostly blood red with a gold border lining the edge.  Muscles bulged from his arms, looking hard as rock.  He almost looked like he really could be ruthless pirate captain… if it weren't for the fact that his entire crew was made up of a group of boisterous, hapless penguins.  At the moment the captain appeared troubled, he glanced about warily and spoke aloud as his penguins pushed and bickered with each other. 

"The scouts ain't back yet…"  The captain mused, frowning.  "Could the Faeries have crushed them?"

The captain continued to think in silence while the noisy, odd group of pirate penguins continued to quarrel and shout amongst themselves.  Reia took a cautious step forward, realizing that she couldn't pass through the area without getting through the pirate group first.  Bud lingered behind her, curious, yet wary of the strange penguins before them.  Suddenly, one of the penguins whipped around and shouted causing Reia to stop in her tracks.

"!!!!!!  Halt, stranger!"  The penguin hollered at Reia loudly, causing the rest of the pirate troop to turn towards the Mana Guardian as well.  "What be the password?!!"

-Password…?-

 Reia blinked at the penguins, baffled.  She didn't know what to say.  The only thing she could think to utter was...

"…What?"

To Bud and Reia's surprise, the penguin trope burst into cheers and applause.  They whistled their approval and grinned at Reia welcomingly.  One penguin actually walked over to Bud and gave him a friendly pat on the back.

The pirate who had demanded for a password earlier nodded cheerily as he piped up again.  "Aye!  Very good!!  Ye got the password!!"

Turning towards the walrus, the penguin waved a flipper and then saluted.  "Cap'n!!  Our comrade has arrived!"

The walrus looked up to study Reia for a moment before letting out an agitated groan.

"That's no comrade!  One look'll tell ye that!"

"But…!  The password was correct!!"

The walrus captain narrowed his eyes and shook his head, almost unable to believe the penguin's stupidity.  "Aarrr, shut up!  Back to the ship before those Faeries find us!"

Within the blink of an eye, the entire crew of pirates ran off, speeding deeper into the forest.  Bud simply blinked at the area where the penguins had once been and shook his head.  "That was… weird."

"Definitely."  Reia nodded her head in agreement.  "Well, at least the road is clear, we can keep going now."

As the two of them continued to stroll down the dirt path that cut through the forest, they weren't surprised to find a pack of monsters waiting for them at every turn.  What they were surprised to find were stone penguins dotting the land.  Eerie statues of penguins could be found as they continued onward.  Some were curled up into fetal positions, others just had shocked expressions of fear upon their faces.  The rest looked stunned, as if something had struck them, but they didn't even know what it was.

Bud poked a nearby stone penguin, curiously.  "What's with all these funky statues?" 

Reia stared at a nearby statue with a slight feeling of fear.  All of the stone penguins looked exactly as the pirates did.  From their dopey clothes, to their beady eyes... They bore an uncanny resemblance to the pirate crew... 

It was obvious now...  These weren't just any statues.  They were petrified penguins.  Someone, or something, had turned them all to stone!

"Hey look!  It's Tote!"

Bud's voice snapped Reia back to reality and the Mana Guardian looked up to see an odd looking turtle wriggling about on its back.  It looked quite old and the turtle peered up at Reia for a moment before speaking in its warm, elderly voice. 

"Excuse me, young'un…"

Bud ran to Tote's side and blinked.  "Umm… Ok."

Reia followed shortly behind the elf child and stood before the squirming turtle.  Tote looked pretty heavy.  It would be almost impossible to flip her right side up…

The ancient turtle smiled her wrinkled face at Reia hopefully.  "Hello.  I'm just a turtle so don't be afraid.  I have a favor to ask you…  Could you stand still right there for me?"

Reia nodded and stood her ground as the turtle pushed against her.  Soon Tote pushed hard enough to start spinning herself around in circles on her shell.  She spoke in her strange, slow, grandmotherly voice as she moved around and around and around.

"Spin, spin, spin, I spin around!"

Just as she finished that sentence, Tote suddenly flipped herself right side up on her feet again and shook her head as if to clear it.  Then the ancient turtle smiled at Reia and Bud gratefully and spoke up again.

"Oh, thank you young'un!  The pirates did this to me.  They trampled me on the way to look for their "treasure"."

The turtle canted her head to one side as she examined Reia and Bud thoroughly.  "Hrmmm...  By the way... can you two see the Faeries right here?"

Bud and Reia glanced about for a moment, scanning the area for Faeries.  However, they saw nothing but green trees and bushes. 

-Fairies...?  Here...?-

All Reia knew was that fairies were mystical creatures that deeply loved nature and intensely disliked humans.  Despite their hatred for most of mankind, it was known that they still were interested in what humans were up to...  All the fairies Reia had ever seen were in books.  She often wondered what one would look like face to face and now that she had her chance, she was eager to find one.

Her bright green eyes swept through the area a few more times, just to find nothing but leaves and branches.  It was pretty... disappointing.

"I'm sorry Tote, but I don't see anything here but you and Bud." 

The Wisdom turtle somehow looked pleased with Reia's answer and smiled at the young blonde with her aged, expression of gentleness. 

"Normal faeries hide themselves only if they fear you or believe that you are evil.  If you can see them, they believe you are a friend...

However, the faeries here do not show themselves to anyone unless they think you're harmful.  It seems like the faeries trust you!  I will cast a spell on you so you will be able to see them."

The ancient turtle suddenly began to chant and bob her head up and down in slow circles.  Bud and Reia looked startled as the world seemed to swirl in and out of focus. 

"Tuurtle... Tooortle... Tooorrtle...Da!"

With a blinding flash of light, Reia felt a light sprinkle of magic fall upon her.  Her eyes tingled with a strange sensation and she lifted her hands to rub her eyes.  The Mana Guardian blinked a few times, slightly disoriented, and took a step back...

"Oof!  Hey!!  Watch where you're going, Human!"

"Uh?  Wha...?"

-A Fairy!-

Reia jumped back from the flying mystic creature as it flapped its delicate wings hastily in order to keep its balance in the air.  The fairy had pale skin and lavender colored hair.  Floppy shoes were on its dainty feet and tiny, sparkling ornaments that looked much like dewdrops dangled from its unruly locks of light purple hair.  It wore unusual looking clothing and had ears that were even longer and were much pointier than Bud's.  At the moment, it's deep violet eyes were flushed with irritation as it glared at Reia with a look of contempt and superiority.

"Hmph!  Humans are so stupid.  We don't have any treasure with us!  So why can't you just leave us alone?"

Another fairy, that was very similar in appearance, flitted on over.  It was pink rather than purple and shook its head at Reia like a reprimanding parent.  "You leave our master alone too!  We share our lives with the master.  If he dies, we die."

The Mana Child backed away from the fairies before they could scold her more.  What did other humans do just to get the fairies so... angry?  Her question was left unanswered as Bud approached Tote and introduced himself the same way he had with Gaeus.

"I'm Bud.  I've come to listen to the Wisdoms to become a great wizard!  I know that you are very great and wise.  Please tell me... what should I do?"

Tote smiled kindly and nodded her head in a slow, laid-back sort of way.  "You don't need to listen to Wisdoms to become a great mage, young'un.  The grass, the water, the rocks, and the wind...  Listen to what they say..."

The young elven mage nodded eagerly as he digested the information.  "Thanks Tote!"

Preparing to leave Kilma's forest, Reia was reaching for Bud's hand when suddenly everything fell silent.  The sound of weeping drifted into the air, lingering in the atmosphere like a thick, hazy fog.  Bud and Reia exchanged glances as they began to follow the eerie sobs and found its source.

A penguin statue. 

Salty tears were sliding down the porcelain white face of the stone pirate.  Although its face was still and unmoving, the feeling of sadness and loneliness was easily felt.  It also seemed to be in pain...

Reia's heart ached as she traced a hand down the penguin statue's cool, smooth surface.  It was alive.  Even though it was made out of stone, the penguin's soul was still locked inside...

...Trapped.

Reia shook her head, unbelieving and slightly afraid.  "How... how could something like this happen...?  Who is causing all of this...?"

"Beautiful sculpture... isn't it?  I really enjoy such artwork, you know.  ...... I would leave this place if I were you, Reia.  It's not safe for one such as yourself.  You might become a sculpture too..." 

A dark, even voice rang out into the air, causing a few birds to flutter off in fright.  This mystery voice sounded dangerous yet velvety, like the purr of a fierce lion.  The Mana Guardian whirled around quickly, holding out her spear before her in a defensive stance.  Her eyes darted from one place to another as she inched in front of Bud in order to protect him.  The tiny elven mage tightly gripped his frying pan as he peered about cautiously.  Even Tote started to pull herself into her shell as she too glanced around for the owner of the dark new voice.

"Heh heh heh... You look scared, Reia.  Is there something wrong?  Do I frighten you?"

Reia's hold on her spear grew stronger as she peered into the empty forest that surrounded her.  "I don't fear you!  I detest you if you are the one who's turning all the penguins to stone!  Stop hiding like a coward!  Whoever you are... show yourself immediately!"

The stranger's low chuckle spilled forth and seemed to flow through the forest air.  It rang clear with a sinister edge, sending feelings of deadly intimidation to all who heard it.

"As you wish m'lady..."

Leaping down from above, a young man swathed in flashing silver and shadowy ebony came zooming down to the earth.  He landed almost elegantly upon the ground and ran a pale hand through tender locks of soft black hair.  His clothing was made of raven-colored silk and lined with intricate designs of dazzling silver and white gold.  The stranger's fair milky complexion was in direct contrast with his dark attire and his careless tendrils of jet-black hair.

The strange man looked Reia over slowly with his eyes of frozen blue and a strange sort of grin appeared upon his face. 

A perilous, sadistic grin...

The black-clothed stranger bowed extravagantly before the Mana Guardian and began to introduce himself. 

"My name Rhylis...  It pleases me to see you get this far, my dear Lady.  But I do believe it would be best if you turned back.  Your safety is impeditive to me, my darling Reia."

"No one tells my master what to do, Mister!  You better leave us alone!!"  Bud shouted angrily towards the stranger as he waved his frying pan threateningly in the air. 

Rhylis had an aura of darkness about him that radiated from his body and swept through the forest like wildfire.  This dark vibe reached out to touch everything and poured out from the soul.  Elves were especially sensitive to the aura of other people.  The only other person Bud knew who had such an aura was Syrian.  But somehow, this stranger's aura was much more dangerous... much more deadly than that of the Mana Knight's.  While Syrian's darkness was restrained and controlled so that nothing was tainted.  Rhylis's was a mass of wild, uncontrollable blackness.  It slithered about, strangling every bit of beautiful power that all pure things of the light may have possessed.  That darkness was just waiting to overtake the more holy powers and use them for more evil purposes...

Unfortunately, Reia was filled with light.  Her soul spilled forth a holy and dazzling purity like a waterfall, yet it was at the same time, controlled and restrained like Syrian's so it would not disturb the balance of things around her.  As Rhylis looked upon the Mana Guardian with his malevolent, hungry grin, Bud couldn't help but feel protective over his teacher.

"Get away from her you jerk!"

Rhylis grinned at Bud with an amused expression and waggled a finger at him as if to lecture him.  "Tut, tut.  Such vile words for one so young! You should keep your mouth shut, unless you wish to be silenced like the poor penguins here."

The black-haired man gestured towards the stone penguin as with a twinkle in his eye.  Reia felt her anger begin to rise. 

"This is your doing...  Isn't it...!?"  Her words had a stinging quality to it as she glared at the evil man with disdain.  "You are the one petrifying these poor pirates!"

"In a way... yes.  You could say it's me.  I wanted a few more works of art to decorate my home, so I dropped the pirates a bit of information about some monster hiding treasure in the lake... "

Reia's eyes widened in horror over what she heard.

Rhylis simply smiled at her reaction as he continued.  "Of course, the treasure isn't real... but neither is the bond between the fairies and their master.  I find it humorous how the fairies believed me when I told them that they would die should their master perish...  They were incredibly gullible... just like the penguins."

"Rhylis?  How... could you be here??"  Tote looked shocked as she stared at the black-haired man.  The Wisdom's expression then changed from shock to disgust.  " and... How could you do such things for the sake of.... redecorating your home?!"

Rhylis shrugged.  "Ah Tote...What can I say?  I like my quarters to be unique and fashionable..."

Before she knew what she was doing, Reia growled lowly and lunged towards the black-clothed stranger, aiming to drive her spear into his evil heart...  But the man simply smirked and stepped to the side.  Reia flew past him and stumbled onto the ground, rolling to a stop in a cloud of dust.  She winced slightly as she forced herself up on her hands and knees.  Those brilliant green eyes of hers were still locked upon that malevolent man, filled with ire.

Rhylis grinned and gestured into the air with his right hand.  A whirl of gray mist spiraled around him, carrying him up to the sky.  He kept on smiling down upon Reia, a smug, pompous look written across his face. 

"Such fierce green eyes...  Why do you look upon me with such contempt, m'lady...?"

He chuckled, sending shivers down Reia's spine as he began to disappear from sight.  "I'm sorry to say that I must leave now Reia.  I have other things to do at the moment, but rest assured that I will come to see you again, dear Mana Child.  Oh... and it was nice seeing you again Tote.  I hope the past few years haven't made you sour..."

Fading out of sight, the only thing that showed Rhylis had once been there were the wisps of grey smoke that meandered through the forest, slowly disappearing into the air...

Reia was about to simply lie down and rest her numb mind when Bud rushed on over and started to shake her hastily.

"Reia!  We have to go stop them!"

The Mana Guardian took on a blank expression.  "....What?"

"The Penguins!  We have to stop them before the fairies petrify them all!  You don't want that scumbag to win do ya?"

Reia shook her head, still a bit numb from what happened and slowly got to her feet.  Her thoughts were plagued by a million questions, all with a million answers that she would never know.

-How did he know my name?  Why does he know who I am?  Tote... Does Tote know him???-

Suddenly a shout broke through her thoughts and she and Bud quickly glanced towards the place it was coming from. 

"No!!  Please!!  It- it wasn't my fault!  Don't turn me to sto-  Uaaahhg!"

The voice was hastily cut off, leaving nothing but silence.  Bud and Reia wasted no time dashing towards the area where the screams had been coming from.

Pushing through a mass of winding branches and shrubs, they stumbled upon a clearing that was filled with dozens of penguin statues.  The two adventurers pressed onward, knowing that the trail of statues would eventually lead to the person who was turning everyone to stone...

"Penguins!"

A loud, authorative voice cut through the air, causing Bud and Reia to come to a stop. 

It was the walrus captain...

He waved a flipper around wildly, as he motioned towards his crew.  The fear was evident in his voice and face.  It seemed the walrus wasn't such a strong, courageous pirate leader after all...

"We face too great a risk!  Back to the ship!"

There only seemed to be fifteen left and all had grim expressions on their birdlike faces.  One penguin stepped forward, surprised with what his leader has just said. 

"Cap'n!!  You ain't gonna leave our stoned mates behind, are you?!"

The Captain suddenly looked furious.

"That's petrified not stoned!  Was that supposed to be a joke?!  One more stupid joke, and I'll have ye all....k.... k...."

The pirate penguins suddenly bunched together in fear, watching their leader with wide eyes of anticipation. 

"K- k-... Klunked in yer heads!!"  The captain stammered loudly. 

"Huh?"

"What?"

"Klunked in our heads?"

A few penguins covered their eyes with their flippers and groaned, disappointed.  The rest simply shook their heads with disapproval. 

"Cap'n!  That ain't a powerful enough threat!"  One penguin complained.

"Say "I'll kill ye all" for us Cap'n!!"  Another shouted.

"All of our penguin hearts beat with yours Cap'n!!"

The walrus shifted uncomfortably as he looked upon his pirate crew.  "But... "Kill" is such a harsh word.  Me mother said so before, ye know?"

The penguins persisted, one bravely stepped forward, looking his captain straight in the eye.

"All of us penguins came this far because of You!  Say it Cap'n!  Say it like a real pirate!!"

Lifting his head high, the captain of the penguin pirates suddenly raised his sword.  His eyes filled with pride and newly found determination. 

"Then listen well, penguins!!  One more stupid joke, and I will...

...KILL YE ALL!!!!!"

The penguins broke out into a loud celebratory roar of approval as they clapped their flippers and danced around.  The captain looked relieved as his crewmen shouted their appreciation.

"That was wonderful!  Yer a real pirate, Cap'n!!"

"Yer the bravest Cap'n that ever sailed the Six...err I mean... Seven Seas!!"

"Now let's go avenge our stone-ified shipmates!!"

The walrus immediately stiffened and hastily started to herd the pirates towards a dirt road that lead out of the forest.  "We'll not be doin' that now penguins.  Back to the ship!"

The penguins remained in silence for a good moment before one of them piped up in a cheery manner.

"Forsake the lake to see the sea!  See?"

In moments, the entire crew of penguins ran off with amazing speed.  Bud and Reia rapidly followed after them, hoping that the penguins would indeed, return to their ship.  The two wound their way through the forest, occasionally complaining about the speed of the penguins and the walrus when they upon another clearing decorated with more stone penguins. A few fairies were floating around them and they all looked upon Reia with anger and scorn. 

"Why on earth did you come here?"

"All humans should be turned into stone!"

"I hate humans!"

"I don't like humans, because you make filthy stuff."
"Penguins are a type of human... aren't they?"

Reia shrank away from the fairies and their harsh words.  She wasn't quite sure how to respond or react to them.  A small hand patted her comfortingly and Reia turned to see Bud smiling at her reassuringly. 

"Don't worry.  Any bunch of fairies that can't tell the difference between a human and a bird that can't fly, can't be too bright anyway... Right?"

The Mana Guardian grinned, glad to have her apprentice there as her support.  "Right!"

"AH!!  C-Cap'n... Save us!!"

"Whhooooaaa!"

Turning at the sound of shouting penguins, Reia and her apprentice made their way towards another clearing.  The walrus captain was standing at the edge of a cliff, sweating bullets as he looked fearfully at the cold, unfeeling fairy floating before him.  It was obvious that the fairy had thrown the penguins off the edge of the cliff and now... she was ready to do the same to the captain.

The fairy narrowed its eyes upon the pirate leader and snarled in a nasty voice filled with hatred.  "You must sacrifice yourself to the master too!"

The captain rose his flippers up to shield himself as he cried out in panic.

"Wait!!  The penguins started this!!!!!"

Shhhrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!

A beam of light shot forward from the cold-hearted fairy, hitting the walrus and causing him to fall off the edge.  Reia reached out towards the fey in shock. 

"What have you done?!"  The Mana Guardian shouted.

The fairy suddenly whirled around and flew backwards, away from the Guardian and her apprentice.  The spear in Reia's hands warned the fairy that the Mana Child was definitely a force to be reckoned with and at the moment, the mystical fey didn't want a fight.  In the blink of an eye, the fairy zoomed off, leaving nothing behind but a tiny sparkle of magical energy.

"Oh my... this is getting worse..."

Tote ambled on in from the forest, walking towards Reia as she glanced towards the cliff where the captain had fallen.  Reia turned towards the Wisdom questioningly. 

"What happens if I jump down there...?  Will I die?"

Tote shrugged and shook her aged turtle head.  "No, but once you go down, you can't come back up by yourself.  The fairy threw the penguins down the cliff because she knew her master would probably go and finish them off.  The cliff's bottom is right by the lakeshore.  They must be worth risking your life for, hmmm?"

The Mana Child shook her head and stepped over to the edge, looking down upon the penguins sympathetically.

"No... not really.  I just feel like it's my duty to save them.  I feel as if I must save them... no matter what the cost..."

"Why?"  Tote inquired curiously.  "Why do you wish to save them?"

The Mana Guardian turned towards the Wisdom and smiled. 

"Because if I don't... who will?"

Without another word, the Guardian leapt from the edge, down to the ground where the penguins were.  Bud blinked for a moment and followed, shouting "Weeeeeeeeeeeee!" on the top of his lungs as he came down.

Tote smiled with a knowing look on her ancient features.  "Amazing... already she takes on her role as the Savior of Mana...  I suppose I shall go help too."

At the bottom of the cliff, the remaining pirates crowded around their petrified captain, patting him and shaking him as they tried their best to get him to move. 

"Cap'n!!  Get a hold of yerself!!"
"Wake up Cap'n!!"

"Ye can't leave us like this!!"

Reia looked upon the walrus captain from a short distance away along with Bud.  Tote suddenly landed with a soft "thud" and prodded on over to the penguins shaking her head. 

"Humans think the master of this lake hid treasure...  Faeries believe they will die if their master dies...  But both are myths."

One of the penguins whipped around and snapped at Tote angrily as he waved around his flippers in the air. 

"Shut up, Turtle!  Do somethin' about our Cap'n!!"

Tote shrugged, completely unfazed by the penguins rudeness and mused aloud.  "Well then, how about if you penguins become live bait and..."

The Wisdom turned towards Reia smiling.  "...that person over there brings down the monster?"

Everyone turned to look at Reia and the Mana Child merely blinked, glancing around cluelessly. 

"Huh?  What?  Who brings down the monster...?"

Suddenly it dawned on her like a sign from God and she reeled back, nearly squeaking aloud.  "ME...?!?!"

The penguins shifted and squirmed about as they turned back towards Tote.  One penguin shuffled his feet around uncertainly as he carefully questioned the wise turtle. 

"Uh...  So... This master guy... Is he huge or somethin' ?"

"Oh yes, he's very huge."  Tote nodded rather calmly as the penguins started to panic.

"Um... how big... is he?"  Asked another penguin.

Tote ambled on over towards the rocky cliff's bottom and paused.

"He's as large as the area stretching from this spot to..."

The old turtle swiveled around and everyone watched as the turtle slowly started striding over to the lake's shore... a good 20 or more feet away...

"...this spot here."

The penguins all looked at each other in utter silence, quietly panicking as the thought of being monster bait swarmed through their minds.  One pirate peeked at the lake hesitantly. 

"W-well, I- I guess yer strategy ain't so b-bad, but..."

Tote neatly interrupted as she strolled on over to the penguin's stone captain.  "At least, I will start this for you..."

In one swift movement, the Wisdom gave the petrified walrus a good shove, sending him straight into the depths of the lake with a loud splash.

"Cap'n!!"

"Wait for us Cap'n!!"

Without a second thought, the penguins all came in after their leader... only to zip right out of the water again as a huge monster followed them straight out of the water.  Tote looked towards Reia with a confident smile and spoke in a sagely manner. 

"Now it's your turn to take over.  I know you can defeat the Gorgon Eye..."

Reia simply gawked at Tote as if the Wisdom had lost her marbles.  Bud speedily pulled out his trusty frying pan, eyeing the monster bravely. 

"Here it comes!"

The monster looked much smaller than Tote described, but it was still about 13 feet long and 10 feet wide. It was mainly a large, floating eyeball that looked quite clouded as if the massive eye was blind and could not see.  The eye had a spiked, lavender-colored shell that surrounded most of its frail body.  It was perfectly horrifying to look at and Reia wasn't exactly eager to go out and fight it...

-God damn that turtle!!  What in Fa'Diel was she thinking?!??!??!!!-

The large monster turned and looked Reia over. (Which was pretty intimidating considering how it was just one big eye...)  Then, its mammoth-sized eye glazed over and it simply vanished into thin air. 

Bud looked completely bewildered as he gapped at the area where the monster had once been. "W-where did it go...?"

"I don't kno-  Uwaah!!?"  Reia let out a surprised yelp as the Gorgon Eye suddenly made its reappearance right before her eyes.  The Mana Guardian stared at the beast wide eyed for a moment before darting away from it as fast a she could.  "It- it teleported!"

Soaring towards Reia, the floating eye suddenly thrusted one of its hard, sharp spikes at her in one quick and unexpected movement.  The Guardian of Mana barely rolled out of the way and the sharp pain from her shoulder informed her that she had just been hit.  Gripping her bleeding shoulder, the young blonde looked up only to be struck again by the horrid lake beast.  She tumbled and rolled to the side from the impact of the blow, her vision blurred as stars flared before her eyes.  Even before she could get back into a normal battle stance, the monster was looming over her. Its large hideous eye was glowing with a horrible power.  For just a moment, time seemed to stand still...

"Reia!!  Watch out!!"

Rumble, rumble...BOOM!

A massive boulder, that was about the same size as the monster itself, collided into the gruesome creature causing it to roll backwards and remain completely still, fazed by the massive chunk of rock.  Reia looked gratefully towards her apprentice as the purple-haired elf scampered on over to her.  Then, she got to her feet and stared at the creature squarely, waiting for it to make another move.  Bud did the same, readying his frying pan as the Gorgon Eye blinked a few times and started glaze its eye over again.  Reia stiffened.  If the creature was allowed to teleport again, it could easily sneak attack and gain the upper hand.

"Attack!  Don't give it the chance to disappear again!"

Plunging her spear's blade into the creature's enormous eye, Reia fluidly rained a stream of attacks upon her foe, still slightly bitter over the fact that it had caught her off guard so early in the battle.  Bud was not far behind and managed to get in a few good thwaps with his frying pan before the monster batted them both away with its rock-hard spikes.

As the two of them began to prepare to attack again, the monster's gargantuan eye suddenly began to glow furiously.  That white, hot glow abruptly shot out as one beam of light, aiming to strike at anything in its path.

Shhrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!! 

Bud and Reia quickly scrambled away and watched in horror as the beam of light struck a tree... petrifying it. 

-It just like the beam of light  that fairy used to petrify the walrus captain!-  Reia realized.

"You two!!  Leave my master alone!!  I shall sacrifice you all to him!"  A small fey suddenly darted into view.  It was the same one that had petrified the captain earlier and in its hand was a small, round shape.  Holding the object out in front of her, the fairy started the chant, causing the circular item to glow just as the Gorgon Eye did.  Reia panicked. 

-She might petrify Bud!!-

The Gorgon Eye suddenly began to glow as well and both the fairy and its master started chasing after the two adventurers.

Shhrreeeeeeeeeee!!!

"Whoa!  Help!!"

"Bud!! Get over here!!"

Shreeeeeeeeeeeeee!!

"Ah!!  Reia!  She's behind you!!"

"She is?!"

Shreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

"Bud watch out!!"

Shhhreeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!

Bud leapt to one side and tripped falling into a pile of bushes where he practically disappeared into a mass of leaves and shrubs.  Reia skidded into a corner trying to avoid the huge monster that was chasing after her.  She was almost out of the creature's range when suddenly-

"HA!!!  I have you now, Human!!  Prepare to be petrified!!!!!" 

The insane fairy crackled as it held out its tiny magical object and aimed straight at Reia.  The Mana Guardian panicked.  There was nowhere to turn!!  The Gorgon Eye was right behind her!!

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!

Shhhhhhhhrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!

"NO!!"  Reia hastily ducked, realizing that she was trapped between two foes.  Her spear didn't stand a chance against such powerful magic.  What could she do!?  The Mana Guardian furiously racked her mind for good ideas when suddenly it hit her that everything was still and quiet. 

".........?"  Peering upwards, the Guardian of Mana was astonished to see that both the fairy and the Gorgon Eye had been petrified!

"Wha... what?  What happened?" Reia stuttered, utterly dumbfounded as she looked upon the two stone creatures with amazement. 

"They petrified each other."

"Huh?"  Reia turned to see Tote prodding on over to the Guardian with a warm smile on her aged features.

"The two of them fired the beams to turn you to stone and just at the right moment, you ducked!  The beams went right over your head and they... well... they petrified each other!"  Tote chuckled at the expression of disbelief on Reia's face.

"Wow!!  Cool!!  You beat 'em!!"  Bud suddenly crawled his way out of the bushes, covered with little burrs and twigs.  He got caught on a branch or two, but finally managed to pull his way through and stand at Reia's side.

Tote shook her head.  "No, you haven't.  You still need to destroy the Gorgon Eye for the stone curse to disappear.  Once, you've done that, everyone will turn back to normal again."

Reia nodded and turned to her young apprentice.  She smiled at the young elf and gestured towards the stone monster.  "Bud?  Would you like to do the honors?"

Bud's eyes lit up like a light bulb.  "Yeah!!"

The Mana Child giggled lightly and nodded her head.  "Go for it. Let's see your favorite magic spell."

Lifting his frying pan into the air, the tiny elf called upon the mighty power of Gnome once more.  Mana energy began to concentrate into the air until it solidified into a solid mass of stone. 

"You are the Weakest Link... Goodbye!!"

Boom!! CRASH!!

The boulder rolled forth and smashed right into the hideous monster causing it to shatter into a million pieces.  There was a bright flash of light that spilled forth and washed over the entire area.  Everyone watching had to shield their eyes from the brilliant, blinding light...

*          *            *

"Cap'n!!  We sure be glad yer still alive!!"

Piling up, one on top of another, the eight pirate penguins formed to make a steep ladder from the bottom of the cliff to make it easier for their captain to get to the very top.  The walrus nodded his head slowly peering up towards the cliff's edge.

"Yeah, our stone-ified mates must be back to normal now."

"Cap'n!!"  One of the penguins spoke up cheerily.  "Climb our backs to get up to the top!"

Tote looked at the ladder of penguins dubiously.  It would be hard for a turtle to climb such a strange penguin ladder  ...Especially one that so sharply ascended.  How would she get back up? 

"Hrmmm... Could you make the slope a little bit easier on my back?"

"Shut up, sea beasty!  This is all we can do!"

The Captain crossed his arms and glared commandingly at his crew.  "Do as she says!"

".............."

The penguins swiftly shifted around to lower the slope of their "ladder", but it didn't hit anywhere near the high edge of the cliff where everyone had fallen from.  Tote shook her head disapprovingly.

"It doesn't reach to the top, Penguins."

The pirate crew all let out a weary sigh as they exchanged looks.  "We should never go ashore again."

Reia chuckled a bit and noticed Bud, leaning against a rock, nodding off from fatigue.  Scooping up the little elf in her arms, Reia ruffled the elf child's lavender hair and smiled.  She was proud of him and how well he had done.  The little elf had saved her life at least once or twice today.

"Come on Bud.  Let's go home..." 

Author's Note:  Oy!  Long, long chapter!!  Sorry for the long wait!  I'll try to pump out more chapters soon!!