Chapter Six: The Rising Rain

I'm in a good mood and decided to write some more.

***

Ari was gathered around with everyone in the kitchen. His whole family had been bitten, and Stan had informed him that the Infectus couldn't infect anyone else for a few days, something about the way it worked. That wouldn't be a big deal, usually, but unfortunately the clouds above them were scheduled to start "raining up" or some such nonsense in the morning. Ari felt terrible, constantly brooding over everything.

"What about Julia?" He asked at some point.

"What about her?" Marlene snapped. Ari ignored her. Stan just smirked.

"I think she has enough Darkness to not get destroyed. Most people will survive, but it's hard to tell. Yes, some people will be wiped out." Rosalyn explained. She sounded like the knowledge was killing her.

Ari sat silently, listening to the others talk about the circumstances that had led to this dreadful summit. Twice he got up to get Marlene something, but otherwise he did nothing but listen.

"Apparently, there's someone who can help us. I've been translating this book as best I can," Stan pointed to the old book in his hands. "We could try to find someone called Shiro Ryu, or the 'white dragon', but this guy is apparently in the Spiritus."

"Obviously we need to find the Spiritus." Rosalyn said.

Kisling kept running his fingers over his pointed ears. "At the present, allegedly, given that Marlene is frequently in close contact with Beiloune, or was at any rate, conceivably she knows somewhat about something on the whereabouts of the Spiritus, and in turn, Shiro Ryu, and possibly even Addonexus."

Everyone said tiredly, "English?"

"Maybe Princess Marlene knows something about where her father got his power?"

Everyone looked at the Princess, and she sighed.

"I don't remember, actually. Unfortunately, my father never did tell me much."

"Well aren't you useful?" Stan sneered.

They launched into another argument, and Ari pondered on how strangely Marlene was acting. He had to face the facts; she probably got reverted, thanks to that stupid bug. Now she was back to her usual "polite but rude" self.

The longer they talked, the more annoyed he got, until he simply left and went to stand outside. It was pitch black, so dark he could barely see if it hadn't been for the lantern hanging outside. He sat down on the porch and looked up at the thick, cloudy sky.

A chill wind blew, and when someone sighed, Ari realized he wasn't alone. He moved his head to the left and thought he saw a faint silhouette.

"Epros?"

The phantom didn't say anything, just sighed again and looked at a pocket watch, apparently having no trouble seeing in the unnatural darkness. Something was hanging around his neck.

"Sorry about…Linda."

Epros glanced at him, red eyes narrowed in anger, but none of it was directed at Ari.

Deciding he didn't want to talk, Ari just stared at the sky.

***

Sleeping while one knows the land outside is going to start disintegrating is very difficult, as Ari found out that night.

He was a guy with little to say, and even less to do. He was helpless a lot, and now was the highest point in his life. He had to deal with the world starting to shatter, let Marlene purposely get hurt, and basically hope that his other friends in other cities are corrupt enough to survive the threat posed by this Addonexus guy.

Darn it all…

Ari frowned, sitting up in bed, glaring out the window. Why did all of this have to happen to him? He wondered sometimes…

Then it happened again. That all powerful rumble that was too deep and long to be thunder. He leaped to his feet, staring around, eyes moving back to the window. Then he saw it.

It floated past his window; a small chunk of tree, the bark was dark brown and wrinkled. Then another. And another. He watched in horror as the sky opened up, clouds moving in a lazy spiral like the first steps of a tornado, and more of the environment rose helplessly to meet it.

It was hard to see past the dark covering the scenery, but Ari saw enough to know what Stan had meant.

It was raining, upward.

More and more pieces reached toward the heavens, trees completely vanishing in the forest, leaving behind a barren wasteland. Strangely, no buildings moved, nothing reacted to the powerful winds except for the green, growing things outside. There was barely any sound, just the world's strangest weather…

Ari jumped, startled, when Epros floated up to his window and tapped on it. Ari opened it quickly, and Epros simply sat on the window sill, watching the silent destruction of everything around them, only punctured every once in a while by the rumbling noise that was not thunder.

"Ari!"

The boy in question jerked his head to the side, nodding at Marlene as she dashed into his room. Everyone soon came in, and watched the trees slowly getting ripped from their roots.

Rosalyn gripped her sword, like that would help somehow, leaning against the wall with her eyes widened in terror. Ari knew her; she would blame herself for anything happening to anyone, anywhere, since she was, in fact, the Great Hero…

Unexpectedly, the ground split slightly, like some thin mouth opening up for air. Pebbles clattered downward into their depths, and the life in the area continued to vanish.

No one knew how long it took for the trees to finally stop, but to Ari it felt like forever. When the terrible rising rain was over, and the clouds closed back up, blocking out what few rays of sunlight managed to pierce its heavy covering, the only tree left was a large, knobby oak.

Big Bull choked out something first.

"It's…gone."

"Terrible." Marlene whispered, hanging onto Ari's hand.

"Oh…no…" Rosalyn lowered her head, and Stan crossed his arms, pouting.

"See, this is the kind of stuff I can do when I get the Necomortis."

Epros smiled without humor. "This is something I must ask you, you pathetic Evil King. What makes you think you'll get such a thing?"

"Well, when we defeat Addonexus it has to go somewhere, right? Once I have that it will prove I am the only Evil King, moi-"

"No. You'll get that over my dead body!" Rosalyn hissed at Stan.

"That can be arranged." Stan chuckled evilly.

"The twosome of you must come to an end to this disagreement, what is imperative at present is finding out how many survived." Kisling said reasonably.

"I agree." Ari spoke up, earning a glare from Stan.

They left the house, saying good bye quickly to Ari's stunned family, and went to check out Tenel, since it was the closest.

The gate was open, hanging limply. The whole town was almost deserted, hiding in their homes, probably.

Or at least, Ari hoped they were.

Everything was hard to see, like it was night with no stars, though Ari was sure it had to be morning. Marlene walked alongside him with her usual brisk steps; head raised high, her red eyes flicking to the side uneasily.

Rosalyn kept walking, her hand tightening by her side instead of squeezing the handle to her parasol, like it usually did. Her lips were moving but Ari didn't know what she was saying to herself.

Stan had vanished, and Ari guessed the Evil King was probably in his shadow again.

Kisling just kept writing things down, if he was even partially evil, it was hard to tell. Big Bull and Epros were walking without looking to the side, but Big Bull's smile had faded, giving him an unusual look.

Ari knocked on the door of Julia's home, out of curiosity, ignoring Marlene's muttering. Nothing.

"No one's home. They went elsewhere." A voice behind them said. They all whirled around to see…the oddest thing ever.

It was a boy that looked exactly like Ari.

"It must be Melas!" Rosalyn declared, waving her sword at the look-a-like.

"Or, possibly, that kid with you is Melas." The Ari clone said in a calm tone.

Everyone looked at Ari, and Marlene spoke quickly.

"That is ridiculous, Ari has been with me since the rising rain, I'm one hundred percent sure this is my Ari."

The Ari clone frowned. "Aw man. That's no fun."

Rosalyn didn't wait, she just leaped forward and tried to jab her sword into the clone. In a flash of black light the Ari clone vanished, to be replaced with a tattered looking black crow, with green eyes devoid of pupils.

"Look, his eyes! Just like Melas! That must be him!" Big Bull shouted.

The crow shook its head furiously, flying to land on a sign.

"No, no! I'm not! Do you mean Melas Kardia?"

Stan appeared out of Ari's shadow, almost knocking him over.

"Yes we do, you insignificant worm! If you're not him, who are you?"

The crow continued to speak in his strange accent. "My name is Coracinus Versipellis!"

Kisling chuckled to himself. "That's Latin, is it not? It means the Black Shapeshifter! What an attention-grabbing case, I simply must be obliged to-"

"We need to get some answers! Okay, Coracinus, what do you want?" Stan demanded, overriding Kisling.

The crow cawed. "I'm looking to get revenge for my mother, for something Melas did to her. Are you after him too?"

"Yes." Epros replied.

"Excellent! Can I assist you?"

"Wait a moment; I want some proof of your good intentions!" Rosalyn said quickly.

Coracinus paused, head to the side. "How so?"

"Um…" Stan stuttered, looking confused. "What about…"

"You must find our friend Linda, she's been kidnapped you see. Find her whereabouts so we may set her free." Said Epros.

Coracinus Versipellis spread his wings lifting into the sky, and started circling Rosalyn.

"You're looking for this Linda girl? You want me to find her? What does she look like?"

Ari quickly explained what Linda looked like to the Black Shapeshifter, and the crow cawed in distress.

"Melas got her? That's terrible! But I bet I know where she is!" The crow landed on Ari's shoulder, green eyes staring back into his own. "Where would you guys go, so I have some vague idea where you might be when I get the info?"

"We'll be visiting each city, looking for survivors and clues. We'll go in the order the Stone Circles are set up, and if we're not there, try the World Library or the manor near here." Rosalyn explained.

Epros quickly handed the crow the necklace, and with a caw Coracinus took it. "Give this to Linda; it's a gift from me to her. She knows what it is; she knows what it's for."

Coracinus nodded, taking off again. "See you soon!"

When the crow had vanished onto the horizon, Stan grumbled,

"Let's go to Madril then, and hope these people are just shut up in their homes."