Hikaru: Oh, yeah . . . I forgot to mention this at the end of the last chapter . . . I described Solon as a person who could be a Ferines or related to a Ferines because the first time I saw him in the game, I thought he looked like one . . . eh, call me crazy, but there you go. Since you don't in fact get to know Solon's personal story beyond he was a bloodthirsty ninja who raised Jay, that leaves plenty for fanfiction!
--
Senel's illness only lasted for the night, much to Kratos's and Tear's relief. As soon as dawn broke, Kratos announced their next destination.
"We're heading for the Thunder Monument."
Senel, who had just finished the breakfast Tear cooked (tuna sandwich), groaned. He never did like the Thunder Monument the first time he visited it, and this time would be no different. Just standing on the panels that made up the floor gave him a strange tingling sensation, something that Will confirmed as a slight electric charge. The monsters there had the lightning attribute, a great nuisance. And traveling through the swirling cloud portals made Senel's insides churn.
"And after that, we're going . . . ?" Senel asked, although he already knew the answer.
Kratos nodded, his arms folded like he always had.
"The Ice Monument, yes."
Wonderful. Today they were going to a place where one can be shocked to death, and then going to a place where one could freeze to death.
Tear returned from the freshwater stream nearby, carrying the clean dishes. She never did seem to mind doing all the kitchen duty, along with cooking and healing. Senel stood, eyes fixed on the point on the horizon of the plains, where he knew the Thunder Monument to be. Hiking all the way from shore to there would undoubtedly take all day . . .
"All right!" Senel clapped his hands together once, heading for the grasslands. "Let's go!"
Heading to the Thunder Monument across the plains of the Quiet Lands took one by the towering elevator, something that pained Senel to see. Not too long ago, that was the very elevator that Will and the others used to get to the Mirage Palace with that sky tram. They had gone to stop Shirley, they, those chosen by the Quiet Nerifes. Senel had no doubts about Kratos and Tear helping him, but the old feelings kept gnawing at him.
It was strange. It felt as though the others had abandoned him. But they couldn't have, Senel knew that in his mind. If the Quiet Nerifes had chosen to bestow him with sacred eres, they would have taken him along, he would be with them right now in the Mirage Palace . . .
But how long had it been? A few days at least, that much was certain. Either the Mirage Palace was so huge that it took a while to get through, or . . . something may have happened to his old comrades. Surely the Mirage Palace served as a kind of base of operations for the Ferines now, and undoubtedly would be crawling with Ferines guards and automata.
Not to mention the Puzzle Booth they would have to encounter eventually . . .
Monsters on the plains were not as tough as the raptors near the Fire Monument had been. They were mostly galves, with a few base turtles and some smallish winged dragons in between. Though the battles were for the most part short thanks to Kratos and Tear, they provided a nice little distraction for Senel and his weirded out emotions right now.
Soon enough the Thunder Monument could be seen, a building set among a rocky path on the sea, perpetually covered with a blanket of dark storm clouds, teeming with lightning. The winds by that area were strong, too, although not so strong they threatened to blow Senel, Kratos, and Tear into the ocean, which was calm anyway.
Inside, the Thunder Monument was dismally dark. The grooves of power winding their way on the building paneling glowed an ominous gold, but didn't provide nearly enough illumination. The storm clouds did provide some light, but only because lightning coursed through them. The same held for the panels that generated the slight electric charge.
By themselves these things would not give off enough light to see anything in the Mounument, but together, Senel and the others could see, if only dimly.
"Lightning based spells are a big no-no here, I suppose," Kratos said upon entering the Monument, half-shrugging.
"Not like you'll need them anyway," Senel replied, starting out on the paneling. Kratos was strong enough, with or without his spells.
They walked along the panels for a while, teleporting through the storm clouds. After passing through each storm portal, Kratos and Tear had to wait for Senel's insides to stop wanting to leap out his throat. Tear understood, such unnatural movements would leave one a little nauseous.
They were almost upon the doorway into the inner part of the Monument when Tear stopped, signaling for Kratos and Senel to follow suit. A storm portal nearby was particularly swollen with lightning energy, and Senel knew what that meant.
"Oh, no . . ."
Kratos drew his sword, though he didn't know what Senel meant. He and Tear only knew that danger was at hand.
Senel's fears were confirmed, as a creature stepped out of the portal. Huge, covered in ebony scales glimmering with lightning, gold crests upon its back and wings at its shoulders, a long tail, rows of ivory fangs set into a head on a long, serpentine neck . . .
The storm dragon roared, lightning dancing on its set of golden horns.
"Stay clear of the dragon's breath!" Kratos warned, and with a pang Senel was reminded of Will.
--
After his meal at the bakery and grudgingly paying his tab, Walter had no mind other than to get back to his job. However, on his way to the lighthouse to get to the Fallen Lands, he seemed to have acquired a new shadow, one that was, quite frankly, pissing him off.
"Solon, why are you following me?" Walter asked for the umpteenth time, turning to face Solon, who only stood there, looking innocent. As innocent as a bloodthirsty ninja could be, anyway. It was rather interesting to know that Solon was the leader of a prominent ninja guild, and trained all its members single-handedly and effectively. It was another thing entirely to have said leader dogging his every footstep like a lost puppy.
"I'm very well connected in means of gathering information," Solon stated cheerfully, "and my latest source tells me that my son is involved in your Merines business."
Walter had no fondness for Jay the Unseen, the one Solon was searching for. Walter felt that Solon addressing Jay as his son was wrong, though. Solon had said that he raised Jay from infancy to be an elite member of his assassin guild, only he had gone AWOL six years ago. If Jay was so important, why was Solon only searching now?
Oh, well.
"You won't find your son here with me," Walter hissed venomously, "for last I saw him he was in the Mirage Palace."
Solon shook his finger, as if scolding Walter. "Ah, ah, ah. How do you think Jay and his friends managed to get within the supposedly unattainable Mirage Palace?"
Walter resisted the urge to punch Solon in the face. He may be connected with the Ferines, but this guy sure was pushing it. Of course Walter knew how those filthy Orerines had managed to infect the palace.
"The tram in the Fallen Lands." Walter said through clenched teeth. "How else?"
Solon grinned, showing off perfectly white teeth, something that surprised Walter, given how gaunt and aged the rest of Solon was.
"And just where, or who, might he go to when he escapes from the Palace?" Solon evidently was enjoying this immensely.
The name jumped at Walter in his mind, and right out his throat. "Senel."
Solon clapped good-naturedly, walking on ahead of Walter on the garden path. The lighthouse was not far off now, only a short walk.
"And there you have it." Solon said, still grinning.
So their goals, for now, only collided this instance because Jay and Senel happened to be friends. Solon was not interested in any business of the Ferines's, especially not with the second Cataclysm Maurits was so hell bent on. Walter wouldn't admit it outright, but he was relieved. Solon was creepy, related to the Ferines or not. If Solon had any plans to interact with the Ferines, or even worse, the Merines herself, Walter knew he would have to stop Solon.
But why was Jay so special? If the assassin guild Solon led was so elite, then surely he had at least a handful of ninja picked out to replace the AWOL Jay. Walter had a nagging feeling it was related to the fact Jay seemed immune to the Curse element. But even that didn't seem so special in the grand scheme of things, unless Solon had plans to assault the demon realm with his guild.
Walter shook his head, those thoughts with it. He followed Solon on the garden path, eventually passing him by to go into the lighthouse, the elevator to the Fallen Lands. He had orders to follow, and an Orerines to hurt beyond reckoning.
--
Maurits raised his staff.
"Rogue Wave!"
Norma cursed loudly. She'd heard of rogue waves before, also known as freak waves, on the mainland. Her parents had friends that sailed, and rogue waves were a rare occurence, but extremely deadly. Tidal waves at sea, if you will.
Before, she knew they had not drowned when Walter used Tidal Wave on them because she sensed a cut in the power flow right before it hit.
And she was pretty damn sure Maurits would not pull his punches.
Oh, what should they do? What should they do!?
At this time, Grune took Norma's lance, her voice taking on eerie undertones, layered, echoing, as she chanted for an eres.
"O hellion whose roar chills the very soul resound!"
Norma could smell the salt water now. In this tiny little hallway, the water would carry them, surely, but where they would end up was a mystery . . . and whether or not they would survive.
Norma could feel Curse energy surrounding Grune, although she was building up for a familiar spell, it seemed much, much, stronger than it normally was.
Grune raised the lance, the spearhead pointing at Maurits.
"Bloody Howling!"
A great mass of Curse energy manifested on Maurits, crushing him underneath its weight, he dropped his staff and screamed. That's right. Radiant, beings of the waters of the Sea, were weak to the most unholy element, Curse.
But that would not stop the spell from forming now. She saw the water rushing on from the hallways beyond, much like the rivers in the Waterways had. Norma flung herself at Grune, hands positioned to perform the shield effect they had failed to do last time they fought a Radiant.
"Guardian!" she screamed, and the green globes formed around herself and Grune, shielding them.
If she had waited any later, she wouldn't have made it. A powerful rush of ocean water crashed into them, sweeping them away from the injured Maurits and the grunt soldier. Rows upon rows of cells rushed past them, and Norma had trouble keeping up the shield. Even after what felt like hours, the water kept pounding powerfully on the globes, threatening to crush them under the pressure.
At last, when the strain on her body and mind would have Norma giving up on the shield, the waters lost power, and it was safe enough to drop the shield. The water, however, had nowhere convienent to escape to, and thusly filled the halls. The water was not terribly deep, only up to her knees, but it sure made moving a bit harder.
Norma inhaled and exhaled deeply, smelling nothing more than salt water.
"Okay, G-Girl . . ." Norma began.
Grune knelt in the water, panting heavily, hands pressed to her head.
"G-Girl!" Norma shrieked.
She was about to cast another Revive on Grune, when an echo sounded from nearby halls. It sounded like an answering call.
--
This was quite a surprise. Chloe could only stare on as Csaba leapt down the stairs, exclaiming his gratitude that Moses and Giet were all right and dandy and that he couldn't sit idly in Werites Beacon at a time like this. Ven, recognizing Giet and her master's confirmation that these people were in fact friends, not foes, dropped her offensive demeanor and replaced the hisses with an odd purring sound.
The seed composed of ice shone brightly, and voice of Celsius visited them once more.
"Enough. We must go now. Now!"
The seed zoomed off in the hallways, much more urgent that it had before. Chloe and Will exchanged glances.
"Let's go!"
Running into Radiant guards from then on proved nothing. Some had automata, but even them were scared at one look at the combined team of Giet and Ven, a grand galf and a raptor, a creature seldom seen, to boot.
With Celsius moving at the pace it had, it was hard to keep up, and Chloe could not help worrying. The seed said before that Grune and Norma were in danger. What had befallen them? Did they run into a squad of Radiant or even worse, a band of automata?
There was no time for battle even if the guards had the guts to. The party, with the beasts in the lead, followed by Chloe, Csaba, Moses, and Will bringing up the rear, had their hands (feet, rather) full trying to keep up with the seed.
Finally, after passing through countless halls and corridors, the air got almost oppressively colder, and a vaguely familiar voice chanting, echoing down the halls.
Chloe couldn't quite tell what words were being spoken, but she caught something about deep ocean currents and heretics. With a pang she realized who this must be. Well, not who, exactly, but from the feel of the atmosphere and the words she heard, a Radiant was charging up for a Sea based crystal eres. If the Radiant in question had found Norma and Grune, escaped prisoners (which she didn't doubt), then the seed was quite right in getting there ASAP.
Another voice echoed from the dark halls beyond, a female one that sounded like Grune's, but Chloe wasn't certain. Curse energy mingled with the large amounts gathered for the Sea type eres, and Chloe knew that indeed Norma and Grune must be fighting a Radiant.
An ear-splitting scream followed up, a male's. Chloe felt her lips pull into a smirk. Grune's Curse eres never were fragile lilies in the garden.
Then she heard it. Rushing water, and the air smelled pungently salty.
Her legs turned to lead, and Chloe stopped dead in her tracks, the others, even the beasts, following suit. Will must've guessed what was happening.
"Everyone, grab something!"
Lucky there were so many cells nearby. Chloe sheathed her sword, latched herself to the nearest cell door, arms wrapped in a vice grip around the bars. Giet and Ven managed themselves quite well, too, or better than Chloe initially thought. Will had grabbed the door of the cell beside Chloe's, and Csaba and Moses attached themselves to another one near the beasts.
Then it came.
Rushing surges of sea water came at them with amazing power and speed, Chloe was almost ripped from her place on the cell door. She was shocked that her beret managed to stay on her head. The rivers of water gushed at them almost perpetually, in strong bursts. The waters were trying to rip them from their perches, to sweep them away into watery oblivion.
As she clung to the bars, something green and round flashed by briefly. She thought nothing of it, but Giet and Ven barked and squawked at it. Csaba stared at his beast, not understanding, and Moses had his hands full (quite literally) holding Norma's straw and Grune's urn while keeping himself attached to the cell door.
This time, it was not Will, but Celsius's seed that revealed the thing of importance. It hovered, shining ominously.
"There! There goes my master and your friend!"
"What do you mean?" Will shouted over the waves.
"Know you those force globes?" The seed asked, almost innocently.
Will gaped like yams fresh from the dirt. "Norma and Grune!"
Chloe coughed up seawater. In her shock, she had accidentally swallowed some. So Norma and Grune had power enough to use Guardian to defend against this eres? That was good news. They must catch up once the waves quiet.
Finally, after what felt like eternity, the waves did calm, the displaced water become harmless, coming up to their knees. Chloe got off the cell door, flexing her fingers and limbs. They were stiff; she had clenched the door rather tightly.
The seed had gone, persumably after Grune and Norma.
Chloe shouted at the dark halls down which the green globes had disappeared.
"Norma! Grune!"
--
"I'm not gonna give it time to breathe!" Senel shouted as he charged after the storm dragon. Storm dragons were known for, like other dragons, breathing the elements, but how did a dragon breathe electricity?
Using his fists on a dragon would be ineffective, so Senel stuck to mostly harrassing the beast with blows aimed at its feet and tail. Kratos slashed away at the dragon's sturdy carapace, deep grooves marking where Kratos cut. It wouldn't be long before Kratos had shattered the scales of the dragon. Tear, meanwhile, stood at the back, casting spells and singing her hymns.
"O violent strains that render demons to ashes . . . Va Neu Va Rei Va Neu Va Zue Rei . . ."
Senel heard the hymn, and he dashed from the dragon. Kratos did not stop attacking, although he backed quite a distance as well. Demon Fang and Demon Fist served them well here. Pillars of flame rained upon the dragon, and it roared at its burns, tongues of lightning shooting out its mouth. Tear lowered her staff, breathing deeply.
"Kratos!"
Kratos nodded, rushed up to the dragon, sword raised. Senel was about to ask what they were doing, when Kratos's next action rendered it unneccessary.
Kratos held up his sword, and it began to glow brightly. A glyph appeared underfoot, and a column of light burst, the dragon roaring as one of its wings was severed by the blast of energy.
"Wh-what was that!?" Senel squeaked as the dragon stood up, still ready for more.
Kratos didn't answer right away, instead charging for a spell.
"Eruption!"
The floor burst with heat energy, and the dragon fell, badly burned, badly wounded. Tear finished off the monster.
"Holy Lance!"
Just like it had with the flesh eating horse, the spears composed of light ran through the dragon, blood spurting everywhere.
Senel sputtered half-formed questions at Kratos even as Tear produced the hymn of healing. Kratos smiled.
"Shining bind," was all he said.
Thereafter, no more monsters like the storm dragon had interrupted their venture into the Monument. As they rested in the second antechamber, munching on another meal Tear cooked, Senel made a mental note not to get on Kratos's bad side. He sure didn't want to be on the receiving end of this Shining Bind attack.
--
Hikaru: Whoot! I had planned at first for Kratos to use his Judgment, but that shall wait until later. Jay will be making an appearance soon, don't worry. The Third Test is close at hand, too! I hope you liked it! Please review!
