From the Spiral - Chapter 2-1
After the events in Wizard City, Malistaire is making a big move to awaken the Fire Titan. As the gods of the Spiral begin to get involved, how will things play out for the nine young souls?
BALANCE - Tip Apprentice
FIRE - Brooke Summersong
ICE - Neil Frost
STORM - Grace Stormraven
LIFE - Calem Lifearrow
MYTH - Ivan Mythblade
DEATH - Samantha Nightspear
KNIGHT - Gizmo Apprentice
THIEF - Garrett Apprentice
This story is made possible by my wonderful friends, who have helped me through the toughest of times and, in the most quietest of times, have made me feel like I'm not alone.
"Oh come on, give me a break!"
Calem was exasperated. Within one of the arena's many training rooms, the centaur laid down on his hooves, his human body seeming somewhat limp as he tried to catch his breath. He was very tired… After yesterday, with Lord Nightshade's defeat, Neil and Samantha apparently had a chat, which resulted in both of them not believing that Calem could've defeated the wraith that easily. And now, they were pushing the centaur to his limits, seeing if he could pull off that amount of magical strength again.
"But you must've gotten that burst of magic power from somewhere!" Samantha glared, crossing her arms. "There's no way it was just because of the adrenaline rush…"
Neil was examining a dummy that Calem was practicing on earlier. He silently checked it out, frowning and taking a few notes.
Neil Frost was no fool. He knew that something was up with that battle. He bought Spirit Blade and Balanceblade treasure cards with a bit of gold he'd been saving up; luckily, Neil almost never felt the need to buy anything other than more notebooks and writing utensils, so he had a good amount of cash saved up for these kinds of experiments.
Earlier, he used these cards on Samantha as she practiced against a dummy. She used Deathblade on herself and used the same attack she used on Lord Nightshade. Neil examined the damage afterwards; the dummies were made to help measure the amount of damage a specific magic attack may deal against an enemy. Samantha's attack was powerful, to be sure, but in that battle from earlier… That only hurt Lord Nightshade for half of his health.
And considering the fact that Neil's Blizzard spell hardly did anything... Right now, they were just trying to see how Calem did away with the other half of Lord Nightshade's health with only the Spirit Blades spell. No matter how well Calem did, however, every time Neil examined the dummy, he would come up with damage that shouldn't have beaten Lord Nightshade, Spirit Blades or not. He couldn't match the damage Samantha dealt to another dummy earlier, which equated to half of the wraith's health. Ultimately, it just made no sense.
Well, it didn't make sense for a minute. But as Calem and Samantha bickered in the background, Neil wrote notes to himself, thinking… And suddenly, it came to him. What if he didn't see what he thought he saw during that battle?
It was the only possibility. Calem Lifearrow didn't get all that power from nowhere. Those Spirit Blades that were used on him by Tip must've been something else, right?
He had to do some research. Putting his blue pen on his ear, Neil shut his notebook, frowning. Besides Tip, he knew there was someone he could talk to right away to see if he was correct…
The Ice wizard left the room, leaving the other two students to argue.
"W-well it wasn't my fault I got a bunch of power all of the sudden! Can't I take a break!?"
"Hell no! I want to see you do that again! Keep going!"
Neil Frost made his way to Ravenwood, silently checking around. Lots of students were chatting with each other; friendly talks, heated arguments, mindless babble… He didn't let the noise distract him. He kept his hood up, hoping nobody would bother him as he searched for someone.
Ah, right. There they were. In front of Bartleby was Professor Arthur, a brown, humanoid dog. He seemed to be a Dachshund, perhaps… To be honest, Neil didn't know dog breeds that well, so he couldn't couldn't really tell. He shrugged it off, walking up to the professor, opening his notebook to a certain page.
"Oh? Hello, Neil." The Professor smiled. He managed to remember Neil's name, having met him through Greyrose once. Apparently he was very talented, able to learn some very hard Ice spells very easily… But what could he want with a Balance professor like him?
He frowned as Neil showed him a page of his notebook. Taking it, the dog put a paw on his chin, interpreting what was written on it.
There were various notes about the power of Spirit Blades. The Professor blinked, surprised at how accurate some of the data was; Neil had managed to mathematically determine that the Spirit Blades spell boosted one's next Life/Myth/Death magic spell by approximately 35%. The math behind support was something Arthur did enjoy teaching his students, but to see someone experiment to find out what the percentage was for themselves… Well, it was impressive.
But the problem seemed to be that someone used a type of Spirit Blades that did more than 35%. Now, Arthur was a clever dog, but, unfortunately, he wasn't up to date on the news of Project101; nobody bothered to tell him that Tip was associating with a new group of friends, and that, of those friends, Neil Frost was included. So, not seeing the consequences of giving Neil the answer, Professor Arthur smiled.
"Ah, right… I have heard rumors of stronger Balance support spells that look quite a bit like the originals. It's possible that one of those spells were used… But I can't imagine anyone knowing any of those without either somehow finding Treasure Cards for it, or, perhaps…" Arthur thought to himself for a moment. Neil looked straight at him expectantly, crossing his arms.
"... Ah, right! Well, there's been talk that many of today's strongest Balance spells come from Krokotopia." He smiled. "In fact, did you know that Marleybonian archaeologists are exploring many of Krokotopia's oldest ruins now in search of answers about the history of the Mander race? They think that the Manders' and the Kroks' history holds the key to where Balance magic comes from!"
Now that was definitely news to Neil. He had heard of Krokotopia before; the desert locale was home to two races. The Manders were reptilians, and, from what he heard, they were very gentle, kind creatures. It was their inherent kindness which made them subject to the Kroks' rule… The Kroks were another reptilian race which made the Manders their slaves. However, now, Krokotopia was at peace, as the Kroks had disappeared, and now all that's left are a few Manders. But he never thought that the world could be connected to Balance magic in some way…
An interesting thought occurred to him. Perhaps Tip is somehow connected to Krokotopia? That strange staff, the possibility of him knowing advanced Balance magic… Neil frowned. It was just a theory for now.
"Thank you." He mumbled, taking his notebook and nodding to the Professor. Sadly, he didn't get what he wanted; Arthur was only able to supply him with rumors and the possibility of greater Balance magic being in Krokotopia. If only Neil could go there, himself, to see if there was a stronger version of the Spirit Blades spell…
…
Perhaps there was a way…
In the center of Ravenwood Academy, the Great Tree Bartleby thought to himself, as he always did; it was a rare day when he felt the need to talk to someone. Most of the time, his only real communication with the outside world was through Headmaster Ambrose, or from the rare times when Grandmother Raven could get in contact with him.
But yesterday was a special occasion. A different, shady person had come to talk to him… They mentioned Grandmother Raven, and something about how there was a monster called Lord Nightshade in the Haunted Cave; honestly, if it hadn't been for the figure's mention of Grandmother Raven, Bartleby would've assumed it was a prank. But the person's knowledge, alongside that honest attitude, managed to convince the old god that he should tell someone. From what he'd heard from the many kids talking around Ravenwood, it seemed that he made the right choice; Lord Nightshade was real, and he was defeated by a rag-tag group of students.
Bartleby longed to talk to Grandmother Raven now; as the only two remaining gods in the Spiral, they had decided to separate and weaken their powers so that they would not be tempted to use them for their own gain. Instead, they wanted to act as guides for the rest of the Spiral… However, sometimes, Bartleby thought that was a little silly; they could've at least stayed in the same world. Though perhaps it was for the best; Grandmother Raven was a bit wiser than him, after all.
That wasn't to say Bartleby wasn't wise, either. He wanted to say quite a bit on this Project101 subject, but, it seemed nobody was willing to seek his guidance. For the first time in years, Headmaster Ambrose hadn't seeked his guidance when an important issue came up; perhaps it was because he wanted to prove that he could keep things under control by himself, but wasn't the Headmaster a little too smart for that?
"Um… Excuse me?"
The Life god had his thoughts interrupted. He glanced down with his one good eye, noticing a young man wearing mostly black. It was Garrett Apprentice, one of the subjects of Project101, who was messing with his crossbow, looking up at the Great Tree.
"Yo, uh… I heard you have a World Door in you?" Garrett frowned, sounding uncertain. He felt pretty weird, talking to a tree; he was told he was some sort of 'god', but, to Garrett, this tree just looked like some old, weak creature on its last limbs… Er, roots. Whatever.
"..." Bartleby didn't answer. This boy seemed like just another disrespectful teenager; was he really one of Ambrose's last hopes? The tree stared down at Garrett, judging him.
"... Well, uh… Could you let me through?" Garrett put his crossbow away, crossing his arms. "My brothers will be here in a bit, and we kinda got to get moving to somewhere…"
"..."
"... Please?"
Bartleby was getting so tired of servicing a bunch of disrespectful students… Only a select few people interested the old Life god, and he was happy to allow access to the World Door for them. But for others, he always felt that letting them pass through was disrespectful to the honor that comes with using a World Door.
He had come up with the idea for World Doors. Back when he and Grandmother Raven put the Titans to sleep and created the Spiral, he connected the worlds through small doors. Every last piece of floating land had a door, and every door had several keys. If you have a World Door Key for a certain world, you could use a World Door to go to that world. Bartleby did this to ensure that everyone couldn't go to all of the different worlds too easily; chaos would ensue, and the doors would be used so frequently that his powerful would be drained within days.
But with keys being a rarity, he didn't have to open the way to his sanctuary often. The World Door of Wizard City was inside him, in a sanctuary he made within himself. It was crafted with fine oak wood, with glimmering, light green lights and various plants and vines… Anyone who got to enter was granted an honor.
An honor he hated granting to disrespectful young men such as this one. But, Bartleby was kind; he decided to open the way.
A small slab of wood slid out of the way, revealing a tunnel leading into Bartleby. Garrett grinned at this, nodding in thanks to Bartleby before rushing in.
Bartleby slid the sanctuary shut, waiting for these two 'brothers'. He hadn't been formally introduced to them before. He watched and waited for a minute…
And, sure enough, they came. A Balance wizard and an apparent knight.
Expecting nothing disrespect again, Bartleby was tempted to simply open the way to his sanctuary again before they could say anything, hoping they would just go on through, but he decided to hear what they may say; perhaps they'll be different.
Gizmo smiled, motioning for Tip to stay behind him as he walked up to the Great Tree. He kneeled on his left knee, placing his sword on the ground and bowing his head.
"G-Great Tree Bartleby… Please let us through to your sanctuary. My brother and I need to stop a sinister plot in another world." The boy spoke nervously. Gizmo, unlike Garrett, had a lot of respect for gods, to the point where he was already cursing himself for misspeaking on the first word. He didn't want to look like a fool in front of one of the creators of the world…
Well. Bartleby certainly hadn't expected that. He might've, had he been with his old powers, but… Ignoring that, it was nice to see a kid with at least some respect.
He opened the way, and Gizmo smiled, entering the sanctuary with Tip right behind him. Perhaps there was a little bit of hope in this 'Project101' after all; but, respectful or not, he, too, was becoming convinced that the trio wasn't enough…
Well. Not like his opinion mattered anymore. He was just an old tree in the middle of a magic academy…
Garrett entered the sanctuary, heading for the center of the beautiful, old room. There was a lone door, standing on a small, wooden platform. The thief smirked, waiting for his brothers.
They had received a new mission. After yesterday's events, Ambrose decided there wasn't anymore time to train. The old man had discovered that, to awaken the Fire Titan, Malistaire would require a very powerful staff… And apparently, such a staff was hidden somewhere in Krokotopia.
There was some sorta archaeologist's project or something going on there, too, apparently… Garrett hadn't paid too much attention. He left early after hearing there was going to be somebody there who could enchant his and Gizmo's weapons. Like hell he was going to stand around knowing he could get a new kick to his crossbow! Maybe he'd be able to do more than just stand outside of the WDC, shooting at the same enemy repeatedly like he did in Unicorn Way…
Anyway, apparently, after they got their enchantments, they had to find the staff and bring it back. Sounded simple enough. It was a way to keep Malistaire from summoning the Fire Titan without fighting him. As long as they could get to that staff first…
Garrett watched as Gizmo and Tip walked into the sanctuary, grinning.
"Yo." He smirked. Gizmo sighed, seeming a little annoyed.
"Why'd you just run out? Do you have no patience?" The knight frowned, crossing his arms. Tip stayed silent, watching as his brothers talked. He hadn't been around them much anymore, especially not after he got wrapped up in that group of friends, but… Now, Tip wanted to get to know them better, and, perhaps, he could have the others forget about him for a little bit. At least until this Malistaire business was over…
They didn't need to get involved anymore.
"What? I got excited." Garrett shrugged his brother's criticism off. "Got the key?"
"..." Gizmo sighed, shrugging and taking a golden key with the icon of a pyramid engraved onto it. "Yeah. Let's go."
He walked up to the door, with Garrett and Tip looking expectantly at him as he placed the key into the door's keyhole, twisting it. A clicking sound was heard, and the knight, smiling, pulled the key out, opening the door…
"We're seriously going to Krokotopia?"
Brooke couldn't believe it. As she, Grace and Neil entered the sanctuary and Neil twirled a golden key in his hand, she tried to take this all in. The Fire wizard hadn't been to another world before… And now that she and her friends might actually be going to one just to research advanced Balance magic was insane.
But why was Neil suddenly so interested in that topic? Usually he just stuck to Ice, not bothering with any of the other schools… It was weird. But she didn't question it; she was too excited!
Neil Frost nodded in response to Brooke's question. He stood next to the door, checking over to see if the two girls he brought along were ready.
Calem and Samantha were busy in the arena, and, frankly, Neil didn't want to disturb them. He usually didn't care, but Frost figured that they would be too tired anyway. He might have asked Ivan to help out, but... Neil didn't trust him on missions such as these; he'd just have Talos do all the work and then he'd go to sleep somewhere.
Meanwhile, he had tried looking for Tip, but he was nowhere to be seen. He was hoping that the Balance wizard would at least talk to him about what happened in that battle yesterday, but it seemed Neil would simply have to look for answers in this desert world.
So that's how he got these two. He thought this was a bad idea, honestly. He didn't trust these two to stay on task 100%, and they could be a little short-tempered. But if he did run into any trouble in Krokotopia, they would be helpful.
"So you can do some research in some library or whatever and Brooke and I can go explore, right?" Grace's eyes shined. She always wanted to explore a new world. Neil nodded silently, allowing this; despite the fact that he didn't trust them completely on this trip, he didn't want them to just stick around him the whole time. Perhaps they'd find something useful in their own 'exploration'... Which he suspected would just consist of bugging the Manders and swimming around in the Oasis.
Wonderful.
The boy shook his head, inserting the key into the door and twisting it, causing the a 'click' sound. He opened the door…
Krokotopia is a beautiful desert landscape, but it's also known as one of the most destroyed worlds. Being connected by several wooden bridges, Krokotopia is made up of several floating islands. There were four main islands; the first was the Oasis, which was connected to all other islands one way or another. The Oasis, aptly named, houses a light blue body of water, crystal clear and very alluring. It was free for public use.
The second island held the Pyramid of Fire. This large pyramid was currently being investigated by the Marleybonian Archaeologists' Society (MAS), who were stationed in a large camp outside. A very tall flag with the image of two bones crossed together and a bronze shield showed that this camp belonged to Marleybone. The Manders were happy to have them here, and they didn't cause trouble, so they were allowed to look through the old ruins all they wished.
The third island contained the Krokosphinx. It was a large, sandstone tribute to the Kroks; although nobody knows why it's there, nobody dares to enter the ancient ruins for fear of ghosts and other such monsters. One can get to the Krokosphinx by riding on an enchanted boat, driven by a light blue Mander who everyone tended to just call 'Captain'.
The final island… Was nowhere to be found. Nobody knew where it was, but legend was that it existed. Some Manders didn't believe the legend, but a few accepted it as truth; one Mander in particular is very adamant about it... The only hints are some strange relics near the Oasis…
Not that the Apprentice family cared much for finding some missing island. Right now, their goal was a powerful staff, and it seemed to them that the best way to find it was to ask the people who were already scavenging around the world. Gizmo led the way as the trio walked to the Pyramid of Fire, where the MAS camp was.
"So we're getting our enchants after we talk to these guys, right?" Garrett asked excitedly. "'Cause I think, y'know, we'll need 'em before we go into some old ruins."
"You just want a new toy to play with." Gizmo scoffed skeptically, rolling his eyes. "But… Yeah, we're going to. Actually, why don't you two let me handle talking to everyone?"
"Why..?" Tip frowned, looking up at Gizmo. The knight scratched the back of his head, trying to find a way to explain this.
"Well, um… I think I'm most… Capable, for this situation." He coughed. In other words, Garrett was rude and Tip was terrible at conversation in general. If anyone was going to get any information out of these people, it'd be Gizmo.
"Ah, c'mon, they're dogs. How hard can they be to talk to?" Garrett smirked, waving Gizmo's claim off.
"Marleybonians are very sophisticated. You are not." Gizmo half-glared, shaking his head. "Trust me on this, okay? I'll get us our information and we can go get those enchants. It's faster this way."
"..." Garrett wasn't completely convinced. But if it would be faster… Fine… He sighed. "K. Tippy and I'll stay here then. G'luck." The thief grinned, placing his hands in his pockets. Gizmo nodded, leaving the group.
They were on the island with the Pyramid of Fire now. The Pyramid of Fire was huge, to say the least; it was a massive sandstone marvel, with perfect slopes on four sides… It also had a large entrance in the front, with statues of Kroks that were painted with red lines.
The Apprentice stood with Garrett, watching as Gizmo walked over to the camp. There were a lot of white tents, all with varying sizes, seemingly meant for different things. There was a tent for storage, some sort of meeting tent, a large amount of sleeping tents… And dogs. Dogs everywhere. Well, humanoid dogs. There were a few male and female dogs, with some Beagles, Golden Retrievers, and other breeds. It was a dog-lover's paradise… If the dog-lover in question also liked their dogs tall, human-like, and intelligent.
"So, Tip." Garrett began, smirking as he looked down at the Balance wizard. "I think you and I need to have a chat."
"Huh?... A-about what…?" Tip blinked, looking up at the thief. Garrett simply kept smirking, seeming calm and casual.
"Well… I think you've got some problems with your confidence." He grinned. "And, y'know what? I decided that, as your brother, I've gotta help with that! So I'm gonna show you a prime example of confidence!"
"A-a prime example..?" Tip repeated, staring in confusion as Garrett's enthusiasm grew.
"Yep! Alright, check this shit out- lemme see…" Garrett scanned the crowd of dogs. "Ah! There."
He pointed to a female dog, wearing tan shorts, a brown belt, and a white, collared top with a red ribbon. She seemed to be a Border Collie, with black and white fur.
"Now lemme show you how a confident person goes about this." The thief pat Tip's shoulder before walking up to the Marleybonian. She was holding a checklist, peering into a storage tent.
Tip watched carefully as Garrett slyly skidded in front of her, starting to strike up a conversation.
"Hey." He smiled, putting his left hand in his pocket as he looked into the surprised dog's light blue eyes. "How's it going?"
"O-Oh!" The Collie blinked; she hadn't seen a human in a long time, it seemed. "Oh, I'm fine, um… Who are you?"
"Garrett. Garrett Apprentice." The thief grinned, taking her left hand, leaning over, and kissing the back of her palm. "And you are..?"
This incited a giggle from the woman, having never seen such a strange human. "I'm Kelly! It's so nice to meet you, Garrett."
"The pleasure's all mine!" He smiled, keeping a hold on her hand. "So, Kelly, do you have any free time tonight..? I'd like to get to know you."
Kelly's face reddened. "W-well, I believe so, yes-"
"Great! See you here again tonight." Garrett didn't stop to hear anything else, as if he already knew she was going to agree. Giving the dog a peck on the cheek, he slipped away, disappearing through the other tents.
"..." Tip just sort of stared at the scene, with the Collie seeming just as struck, before getting a tap on the shoulder. Turning around, Garrett was right behind him, grinning.
"And that's what confidence can do for ya." He laughed. "See how easy that was?"
"U-Um… Garrett…" Tip blinked, frowning. "... U-um, not to be rude… B-but… You just got a date with a dog…"
"Don't kinkshame me, bro." Garrett crossed his arms, a little red.
"Kinkshame…?" The Balance wizard tried to puzzle the word out, causing Garrett to sigh in frustration. The thief shook his head, keeping himself together.
"Never mind. I made my point." He shrugged, smiling. "So, when we're done with this whole adventure, I expect you to be able to do that, too."
"Wh-what!?" Tip's eyes widened. "B-but, I mean… That…"
His face was completely red, with various objections coming to mind. But Garrett wouldn't hear any of it, so he pat the boy's head, calming him down.
"Don't worry. You won't have to date a dog." He winked. "Buuut I'll find a hot human for ya! That's a promise!"
"I-I…" Tip, still flustered, could hardly say anything. It was then that Gizmo returned to the group; he seemed a little disgruntled.
"Hey." He walked up to the two, interrupting their conversation. "So, I checked a few guys, and they're all saying that the one in charge is Professor Winthrop. Apparently, if anyone knows where a powerful artifact should be, it's him."
"Cool! Let's just get this done by sundown, eh?" Garrett grinned, putting his hands in his pockets. "I've got a date."
"... What?" Gizmo raised an eyebrow, looking down at Tip, as if expecting him to give the knight an answer. The Apprentice, still red, shook his head softly, as if saying that Gizmo didn't want to know.
"... Alright, fine. Shouldn't take more than a couple of hours." He sighed, shrugging. "Let's go."
He began to lead the trio towards the entrance of the pyramid. Garrett gave Tip a light pat on the back before moving on, with the Balance wizard taking a moment to get himself back together before following his siblings.
It was going to be a looooong day…
It was going to be a looooong day…
Brooke and Grace had immediately ran off somewhere, leaving Neil Frost to himself. Finding them was going to be annoying, but, shrugging it off, he started heading in the direction of a large building; one that he assumed to be the library. As he walked towards it, he heard a strange, familiar sound…
The sound of a distant… Snoring…?
Neil glanced around, following the sound. It was coming from the Oasis. He made his way there quickly, not believing his ears. Could it be..?
It could. And it was.
Ivan Mythblade was sleeping next to a palm tree, snoring peacefully. Neil simply stared.
How did Ivan get here..? What was he doing here…? The Ice wizard shook his head, deciding he wanted to demand answers. He snapped his fingers in front of Ivan, squatting down near the boy.
"Huh..?" Ivan yawned, slowly opened his eyes and looking over to Neil. "Sup…?"
Neil simply glared. His questions should be clear. He didn't even need to say anything. Ivan, in response, simply smiled softly.
"What? World Door Keys aren't that rare, y'know… You got one… Somehow…" The boy yawned. "I happen to have a small… Collection…"
"..." Neil's glare didn't end. He wanted to know why Ivan was here, too.
"What? I've gotta have a lot of hiding places from Cyrus." The Myth student grinned softly. "This is one of 'em. Now c'mon, leave me be; I wanna see if the girls go swimming…"
Neil rolled his eyes. Typical Ivan. Lazy and a pervert. Deciding he wasn't worth the Ice wizard's time anymore, Neil walked away, leaving him alone.
"... Heh…" Ivan smirked, making himself comfy under the palm tree again. "Yeah, I could get used to this place…"