Disclaimer: fuck the system
Hey guys! Sorry about the freakinly normal chapter last time. I just thought ya know, Raguna could use a change of pace. Besides i wouldn't say it was THAT boring i mean the flashback should have been interesting right?
Ah well.... eff it.
Raguna was running as fast as humanly possible to the home of the Mayor. He was running so hard sweat started to form on his forehead. He passed by a troubled Rosetta who tried to call out his name. Whilst moving past her he said "Ceci" as loud as he could. She looked immediately relieved when he said this. While moving through town it appeared as though the whole town was looking for Russell's wayward daughter. His mind went straight to the events that made him run towards the Mayor's office.
"Ceci is missing!" Lucas all but screamed
"We had a fight about her not going into the caves." Russell said, ashamed "I told her that they were dangerous and I forbade her to enter one. She yelled at me and ran off."
"So most likely, knowing Cecilia, she's inside one of the caves." Camus said
"We're organizing a search party." Zavier said "I'll take Toros Cave, Lucas will take Carmite."
"And you and me are takin' Clemens" Camus said "It's unlikely she entered Mt. Gigant since she's afraid of heights. Besides Neumann just came from there and he didn't see her so we're crossing it out."
"She can't swim so Misty Bloom cave is a no-no" Zavier said
"Also if she tried going into any of the caves by the Ruins Sharron would have noticed her, and we asked, which by the way was an uncomfortable experience. She's very cryptic and creepy. She creeped ME out. I'm Lucas! I creep girls out, not the other way around!
"Wait how can Cecilia enter a cave without a pass?" Raguna asked, confused, ignoring Lucas' rant of pointlessness
Raguna's three best friends looked at each other uncomfortably and then they're eyes settled on Russell.
"It's best if Russell explains" Lucas said
Russell unused to being the centre of attention fidgeted nervously then sighed
"Well you see it goes like this." Russel said calmly "Cecilia is an elf, or half elf at the very least. Elves also happen to be creatures of magic and as such they can bypass such magical barriers."
"She's am elf?!" Raguna said surprised
"Yeah well the whole town knows." Zavier said "The ears are a dead giveaway"
Raguna then thought back to all the times he was with little Cecilia. Then he mentally and physically slapped himself on the head for overlooking such an obvious detail. Then he remembered another forgotten detail.
"I don't have a pass for Clemens"
"Why not?" asked Camus "Didn't you say you were gonna ask for it today?"
"I did but, the Mayor said I needed rest time."
"The Mayor has never refused to give the pass to someone who earned it before. It's quite odd actually." Russell said
"Well let's just forget about that for now!" Camus said "Raguna go get your pass. If you explain to him the emergency I'm sure he'll understand. I'll go on ahead! Clemens is huge so we'll take different routes. I'll be taking the upper path and you take the lower one. You'll understand when you see it now go!"
" Camus said "Raguna go get your pass. If you explain to him the emergency I'm sure he'll understand. I'll go on ahead! Clemens is huge so we'll take different routes. I'll be taking the right path and you take the left one. You'll understand when you see it now go!"
Now here he was. Running to the Mayor's office like someone had died, which might be the case unless he moved faster. Then he reached Mayor's office panting. The Mayor was shocked at his entrance but unsurprised at his appearance. The Mayor handed him a pass to Clemens Cave without a word. Raguna took the pass but, eyed the man carefully.
"Why didn't you give me the pass in the first place?" Raguna asked calmly
"It was at someone's request." The Mayor said "It went against my better judgement but, I couldn't argue. I can't tell you who though. I promised not to tell. I shouldn't have agreed to it in the first place. I was just so surprised. I apologize. I will inform the person of my decision; it will never happen again I swear."
Raguna merely nodded and said the incantation required for the Teleport spell and disappeared.
Raguna ran once again to his next destination. What began as a simple, slow, boring day turned into a frantic race against time. He had to move fast and unfalteringly. He trekked up the steep mountain to the next cave. His breathing pace normalized. He stopped for several moments at the cave's entrance. He took out his blade and shield and prepared for the battles that awaited him. He hated to admit it but, he was flushed with excitement. The chance to fight and explore the cave almost overwhelmed him with ecstasy. A grin reached his lips. He knew that Cecilia was top priority but, he loved the thrill of battle.
Clemens was the exact opposite of Toros Cave. If Toros Cave was a beautiful icy wonderland, where snow and soil lived as equals. Then Clemens Cave was a volcano of flame and stone. Raguna would be surprised if anything grew here. Yet sure enough he saw a patch of land on the side where coloured grasses of all kinds grew. Flame and plant life existed as one here. Toros was a cave of ice and silent beauty. Clemens was cave of flame and mighty strength.
"Kardia really is an amazing place" Raguna said to himself. Then he noticed a large green skinned monster looking at him. It was large and had long arms and horns as long as its head. He remembered a drawing of this monster on a book. This beast was called an ogre.
He struck out at the monster that awaited him. Moving decisively and surely, he smashed the ogre's face with his shield. The beast was caught by surprise and fell down. Raguna jumped over it and hacked at the machine behind it. The ogre got up and retaliated but, Raguna blocked the arm with his shield and stabbed the beast's chest. The monster bellowed in pain and disappeared.
Raguna ran on wasting no time. He quickly dispatched of any monster that blocked his path. Gigantic ants tried to fight him but, they merely fell before Raguna's swift blade.
Then he saw a path blocked with flame and two on either side of him. He took the one on the left.
When he entered a gate shut behind him. Then he saw a lone generator and a little girl crying in the corner.
"CECILIA!!" Raguna called out
The little girl noticed him and ran towards him hugging him tightly.
"I got trapped in here when the gates closed."She said, "I'm sorry Raguna. I should have listened to Dad"
"It's okay." Raguna said "Now let's find a way out of here."
Raguna then looked at the generator and wondered why it had not activated on him or Cecilia. He cast a suspicious glance and took out his sword.
"Wait here Ceci"
As he approached the generator it whirred to life and began summoning a huge blue ogre. This one was bigger than the last one and it had a more sinister aura to it. It roared at him and charged. Raguna blocked it with his shield but was pushed back. He couldn't beat the thing in terms of pure strength it seemed. He then dashed back and a Water Laser spell. The ogre narrowly dodged the beam but that's when Raguna struck. Using his shield he hit the ogre on the side. The ogre had not yet regained it balance so it fell flat on its face. Then he stabbed at its head with his sword while pinning it down with his shield. The monster vanished in blue light.
"C'mon Ceci its gone let's go" Raguna said
Cecilia took Raguna's hand and walked with him to the pathway that the gate had recently barred/
Just when they were exiting the room they saw Melody.
Raguna was about to call out to her when he noticed a red monster with an axe and a bull head behind her poised to srike. Raguna ran towards her and called out but then he saw Camus blocking the monster blow just in time.
"Hello Raguna, and Cecilia." Melody said apparently oblivious to Camus' efforts.
"Get out of the way" Camus yelled frantically
"If you say so Camus"
Camus the pushed the monster back with the hilt of his spear. The spear he used looked like a lance with spikes at the tip. It looked exactly like the diagram in the book that displayed Sechs Empire weaponry. Twirling it like an expert he stabbed at the monster with the spear. His great strength allowed him to hold the heavy lance as if it were nothing. The monster fell and disappeared.
"You heard it coming why didn't you get away?" Camus asked Melody
"I knew you would jump in at the right moment." Melody said matter-of-factly
"She has a point you know" Mist said appearing from behind
"What makes you two so sure you guys aren't even fighters!" Camus shouted
"How did you get passes if you guys aren't fighters?" Raguna said, hoping to calm Camus down
"You'll be surprised what Lucas gives away when you use your feminine persuasion on him." Melody said as Mist nodded in agreement
"I'LL KILL HIM!!" Camus roared
Raguna almost laughed. He wasn't sure if Camus was mad at Lucas for giving the two girls passes or the fact he had allowed Melody to use her feminine persuasion on him. His best guess was the second possibility.
When he was about to speak up suddenly huge pillars of flame erupted from behind them. They turned to see an orange monster. It had along sleek body and a flaming aura. It was a flame elemental, extremely aggressive and very strong.
"I think we should leave now." Camus said "I've been to these caves tons of times of times, but that is the first time I've seen a monster use a high leveled flame spell."
"I don't think so," Melody said "I still haven't found a place for my bath house yet!"
"How can you think baths at a time like this?"
"I think about the relaxing and beautiful nature of baths at all times, even ones like this."
"I'm staying too." Raguna said "I wanna see more of this cave."
"If it's okay I can just take Ceci with me and Camus you can come if you want" Mist said
Obviously Camus was not going to leave Melody in a cave alone with monsters and Raguna. The monsters were actually a minor problem compared to Raguna who was turning out to be quite the lady's man. (as far as Neumann told him)
"I'm going with you guys" Camus said
"The more the merrier!" Raguna said happily
"Okay bye guys!" Mist said as her squirrel-chipmunk-monster-pet-thing cast an Escape spell.
"Now guys how do we deal with Flamey over there?" Raguna asked
The three of them gazed at the elemental monster that had not moved. It was guarding the generator which had apparently summoned it. It was hostile, but it didn't approach them.
"How about we just go around it?" Melody suggested "It only appears to be interested in protecting that machine thing"
"That would be unwise" Camus said "It attacks anything within radius of its Inferno spell."
"What does that mean?"
"The Inferno is an extremely high levelled flame magic. It surrounds the caster with searing flames that protect the caster. It has a wide range at all sides. It's normally used as a defensive counter, but in this case it works to stop escaping targets."
"So striking at different sides is pointless and going head on is suicide" Raguna said "Then how about we use Water Laser?"
"Trust me let's not go there" Camus said "This is Lucas's strongest spell. It not only blocks advances, but it can neutralize most water based spells."
"I wasn't aware Lucas was proficient in high levelled magic" Melody said, surprised
"Well he's not the type to brag about this kind of thing"
"I got an idea" Raguna said
Then he cast a Water Laser and sure enough the monster cast Inferno. Then Raguna charged forward at the monster. Camus seemed to understand as he charged forward as well. The monster's spell neutralized the blast of water, but the spell wore off and the moment it did there was a blade through its chest and a spear through the generator.
Camus and Raguna did a high five and followed an unimpressed Melody who walked forward the moment the monster died.
They fought through hordes of ogres and giant ants all the while protecting Melody. Though they didn't say it Melody was a very hard to protect. She walked forward without a care for the monsters. She once even went very close to a generator. She simply said she didn't need to be careful while they were around as they would always pop up to protect her.
Then they reached a gate made of black stone with the carvings of a tree growing from an erupting volcano.
"Destruction brings life." Camus said "One of the ancient principles of the earth. Even destruction can bring forth life. I read about it in the library about kingdoms."
"Isn't that a Sechs philosophy?" Raguna asked
"Yeah it is." Camus said, "Know thine enemy I always say."
"Well let's go inside." Melody said, "I bet there's a great bath inside!"
Before they could question her logic the gate opened and Melody walked in oblivious to the sudden reaction to the gate. The men shrugged and walked closely behind her.
When they entered the first thing they saw was an enormous plant inside in the middle of the cave.
"Uh Camus," Raguna said "did that book thing include giant flowers growing inside a cave filled with lava?"
"I'm pretty sure it didn't." Camus said
"OOOH! This would be a great attraction for my new bath house!" Melody said(who else?)
Before they could question her obviously flawed logic, the plant moved and then roared at them. Then it suddenly summoned blades of wind that flew straight towards them.
"Perfect a plant that grows in a lava cave and knows Swordstorm next you're gonna tell me it can control ogres too!" Camus screamed, "Melody stand back!"
At the same time a root shot out and grabbed Melody and lifted her up. It shaked her violently back and forth and it lifted her to above what looked like its mouth.
"MELODY!!!" Camus ran forward and charged at the monster. He was hit by several wind blades but, he kept moving forward. He continuously hacked at the stem until a giant root swatted him away. Raguna cast a Barrage Fireball spell at the monster. It roared in pain and launched more blades. Raguna then countered by using his rune energy to shoot a shockwave. The wave repelled the blades and hit the monster.
Raguna panted, the shockwave took more power than he expected. He still couldn't use it as well as Kruscior but, he was getting there.
Camus then dashed toward the plant, but it summoned ants to stop his path. Then Raguna popped up and hit them all with a Swordstorm spell. The monster just summoned more ants to stop them. Raguna and Camus jumped over them and ran straight to the plant. Raguna dodged the roots and jumped to the plant and cut the stem all the way through, beating it.
It dropped Melody. She screamed and Raguna made a move to catch her, but Camus came just in time.
"Th-thank you" Melody said shaken
"Y-you're welcome" Camus said blushing
Melody was in Camus' arms. They just looked at each other red faced and a bit shaken. What was actually moments seemed like forever. They became trapped in each other's eyes. Maybe it was the adrenaline that kept pumping through their bodies. Maybe it was the heat that was getting to them. Maybe it was just the spur of the moment. Whatever it was their faces closed together for a tender kiss. She was still being lifted on the ground by Camus' strong arms. Her arms wrapped around his neck, unwilling to be put down at any moment soon.
"Ehem" Raguna said "Not that I dislike this newly formed partnership I think it would be better if it didn't blossom in a cave full of ogres and lava."
They both blushed and Camus put Melody down reluctantly, but Melody still kept her arms around Camus, as if she was afraid he would be gone at any moment.
"Since Camus is, er, distracted I'll cast the Escape spell." Raguna said "My adventure is ended and my soul is tired. Winds take me away to a safe place. Escape.
They parted ways at the entrance of the cave. Camus had volunteered to walk Melody home.
Raguna smiled and noticed it was night already. He was glad Cecilia was home and safe. Camus finally did what he what he was too scared to do for years. Lucas would have been proud.
Despite the interesting day Raguna still had had many questions running through his mind, "Who was Cecilia's mother?", "What is Lucas trying to hide?" , "who wanted him away from the caves?" "Who could he trust?"
A/N sorry for not updating in awhile but hey this is a long chap right?
No Kruscior either I have other plans for that OC muahahahaha!
Anti-MelodyxCamus fans are gonna hate me from now on, since as far as i know there are not many MelodyxCamus fics out there.
REMEMBER MORE REVIEWS=BETTER, LONGER, FASTER CHAPTERS!!!!!!