This WILL be the last part of chapter two. There isn't enough to write about that would make it 2 parts. And then we'll finally be on to chapter 3!
Ps. Sorry I didn't wait for you to beta Meg. Sorry!
Dark Chronicle
Chapter 2: Resurrection of the great elder
Part 5- Not out of the woods yet
The trip back through the forest was fairly uneventful, save for a few monster fights and a strange incident where they encountered a himarra who was crying his eye out, mumbling something that sounded something like " 'uman girl trick me."
Max looked at Monica in confusion, and was even more confused when she hissed "What!" before storming off in a temper.
Soon enough Max and Monica were back in Sindain, and in spite of the Carpenterion floating eagerly close to the ground both of them agreed that the first priority was to speak to Jurak.
It wasn't a moment after they'd walked through the time gate that they noticed certain differences from when they'd first been to the future. There were more huts than before, high up in the tree tops, many connected together by rope bridges. There was more activity on the ground; people walked about on personal errands or sat at the base of trees carrying out mundane chores. Over to the right the river was spanned by a wide bridge made of white marble, and although most of the people around were firbits there were also many other species; small grey skinned goblin like creatures, elves with pointed ears and fair complexions, humans of various races and even a few of the mysterious moon people, some with the hoods of their robes pulled up making their eyes glow ominously red, and some with their hoods thrown back so their rabbit ears waved freely in the air.
"Wow, this place is a lot more lively." said Max, spotting a trio of passing humans with enormous bags strapped to their backs "Who'd have thought that defeating the rainbow butterfly would make such a difference."
"If everything's gone smoothly, Jurak will be able to tell us why it made such a difference." Monica said as they came to the Jurak Mall. Instead of a flimsy signpost, the entrance was now marked by a tall stone arch, the name 'Jurak Mall' sculpted deep in the stone stretching over the path. On either side there was a large hut, each with signs saying 'Mall Management'. A few firbits with wooden staffs and bottle green uniforms were bustling around but took no notice of the two children.
The mall was far different from when they'd first been there. For a start it was at least four times bigger than before, and it was occupied by dozens of people of varying races and species who casually mixed together in a mass of buying and selling. There were a lot more stalls as well, each one with packed with knick-knacks and bits-and-bobs from every culture available. Some were cooking and selling food, the spicy, tangy and oily scents blending into one mouth watering aroma. Exotic and simple colours swirled together effortlessly. The stalls were bigger and heavier and fitted with harnesses so they could be pulled by horses, and many of the trees surrounding the mall had been dug out at the bases to be used as shops just like Jurak. Jurak himself had also changed. He was even taller and wider than before and had grown some extra large branches, one that grew into the ground so people could use it as a stairway that led up to a new shop that had been carved into Jurak's trunk.
"Ohhhhhh," Jurak groaned loudly when Monica tried to speak to him. Some nearby people stared at the odd looking children in surprise when they saw they were speaking with the great elder.
"Ohhhhhh, I remember." The tree droned. "I remember everything."
"That's great," replied Max "but how have we made such a difference? All we did was fight the rainbow butterfly."
"The rainbow butterfly came to attack us maaaany times over these long years, under the influence of evil. It can be a veeeery dangerous creature if it chooses to harm others. But you destroyed its wings. Without the power of its wings, I found the strength to force it back into the forest from whence it came, even while I was so young. And now I remember. I remember about," Jurak's voice darkened "Griffin."
"You do?" Monica spoke up "Then please, tell us everything you know about him."
Jurak's eyes blinked slowly and he said "Griffin does not exist in our time." He groaned, deep in thought. "He only shows up in the memories of our distant ancestors. From what I remember he hates humans, but he likes flowers."
"Flowers?"the young adventurers exclaimed together.
"Yessss. This Griffin is a strange creature. It is as though there are too sides to him. One side that is a terrible being which we hate and fear- the other, a mysterious person who has some... important purpose."
"What's that mean? What purpose does Griffin have?"
"I don't quite know the details. These memories are soooo old. Griffin came from veeeery long ago, in ancient times. He is sending some strange, otherworldly power into the present, and is controlling a lot of things"
"So Griffin's world is that of the distant past." concluded Max
"Well where and when can we find Griffin?" Monica asked.
Jurak groaned again, eyes slowly opening and closing. Max and Monica (the latter looking incredibly impatient) watched in silence as the great tree thought carefully. Eventually the elder opened his eyes wide and took a deep breath.
"I'm not really sure."
Both Max and Monica made an exasperated sigh. Monica had to hang her head to hide her anger.
"You might want to ask Crest."
"Crest? Who's Crest?" Max asked quickly.
"Crest the Great Sage." Monica said quietly "The greatest and wisest of all of the sages in my era, and with the Moon Crystal she can use incredible astrological powers, and can prophesise almost anything."
"That sounds good. So where can we find this Crest?"
"The Starlight Temple of Argentum City. But the temples origin point in Balance Valley has been destroyed. If we want Crest's help we'll have to go back to your time…"
"And restore Balance Valley." Max completed.
"Sounds like a plaaaan." Jurak rumbled, earning a surprised look from the two kids for the unusual choice of words.
"Here, you might be able to use this." Jurak began to aim his gigantic nostril. Max's eyes widened as the infinitely dark hole pointed at him. The huge sneeze came quickly and an object zoomed out of Jurak's nose, luckily hitting the ground in front of Max rather than Max himself.
"This is called the Jurak gun. It's made of wood, but it uses a very powerful laser. Use it wiiiisely."
"Hey, thanks Jurak." Max said as he inspected his new weapon.
"Come on Max, let's go." Monica pulled Max's arm and headed back to the time gate. Max holstered his gun and turned to follow, but was startled by the small crowd that was loitering to see what was going on. He eyed the people warily, but seeing Monica stride past them with ease, Max quickly caught up with her.
"We better speak to the firbits right away to see if they'll help us restore Balance Valley." Max said before glancing back at the gradually disbursing crowd. "I hope that isn't going to happen everywhere we go."
"If you ever face a crowd, just act cool and walk by without speaking." Monica advised absentmindedly. "I learnt it from my father; he was used to crowds."
"What d'you mean by that?" Max looked round at the mention of Monica's father again.
Monica suddenly seemed to realise what she'd just said. For a second a sad look crossed her face, but she quickly recovered to a cheerful smile.
"It doesn't matter. Come on, we've got work to do." Monica quickened her pace slightly.
"Monica," the young mechanic sighed as his young amazon companion got further ahead of him "you're such a mystery."
The gloomy faced Firbits sat silently in the Carpenterions cockpit, watching Conda unfold Holly's letter.
After using Monica's Atlamillia to return to the past, her and Max went straight to the Firbits, where they told them that Holly couldn't leave the woods because of the dark power that had turned the monsters evil (it was close enough to the truth). Fortunately the Firbits were too saddened by this news to ask how a power directed at monsters could affect a human.
When Conda had unfolded the thick parchment he began to read aloud.
My dear friends,
I am sorry that I have left you so suddenly, but there are reasons I can no longer be with you anymore. I think you may already have an idea why. I will miss all of you, and I want you all to know that the time I spent with you were the happiest days of my life.
"Holly…" sobbed one of the unnamed Firbits.
Stay happy and healthy my friends. You will always be in my fondest memories.
Holly.
Conda folded the letter quietly, while the others began weeping.
"Holly," he groaned in despair "Why did yer go an' do sumthin' so stupid? Why not tell us you're the rainbow butterfly an' let us help yer?"
"WHAT!" Monica exclaimed "You knew all along that she was a monster?"
"Of course we knew. We could tell she wasn't human just by her scent. It wasn't difficult te work out what she really was." Conda took off his glasses and rubbed his damp eyes with the back of his shovel like hand. "When we knew the monsters 'ad been turned evil we feared Holly had fallen under the same spell. That's why I tried te convince ye that Holly had been taken by the rainbow butterfly. I'm sorry for all the deception I put yer through."
The pair of adventurers frowned, but at the site of seven Firbits crying their eyes out, even hot tempered Monica couldn't bring herself to feel angry.
Eventually they calmed down, and Conda stood up.
"Max, Monica. I've been thinkin'. It seems te me that if we want te help Holly, the only thing we can do is te get rid of the curse on the woods. And from what I've 'eard, you two er' goin' after the one whose responsible. So, will yer let us come wit' yer?"
"You want to come with us?" said Monica.
"Aye; if yer planin' ter do anythin' that might help Holly, we want a part in it. Besides, I'm thinkin' we owe yer for all the help you've given us."
"That's great!" Monica smiled widely. "And in fact there is something you can do to help."
Soon enough, Max and Monica were climbing aboard Blackstone One while the Carpenterion began heading to the next destination, swooping low to grab at trees, stones and any other materials that could be used to rebuild the world.
The train was still a bit faulty, and jerked sharply as the people on board stumbled to take their seats as it rumbled through the featureless Sindain station.
Most of the town's people were in the two hastily repaired sleeper carriages at the back of the train, so Max and Monica pretty much had the front observation car to themselves.
"Well that was a successful trip." Max said as he leaned back in his seat and watched the view from the window whip past, too fast to see properly.
"Yep, we did a good job there." Monica sat in the seat across from Max. "It's a shame Jurak couldn't tell us where to find Griffin though. The longer we take on this journey, the more chance we'll end up facing soldiers from Griffin's army, not just rogue monsters."
Max paused for a moment while the lights in the carriage automatically turned on as the sun began to set. Then he said "Well, if we do meet any of those soldiers we'll take care of em'. We make a pretty good team."
Monica smiled.
"We sure do. By the way thanks for helping me when I was trapped by the butterfly. If it weren't for you it would have crushed me."
Max looked very pleased with himself as he said "Hey, no problem. Guess this means we've even after you stopped Flotsam from blowing me up."
"Oh no you don't pal!" Monica laughed. "Right after you distracted it the butterfly tried to eat you, and I had to save you again. So you're still in my debt I'm afraid."
They laughed gently, though both knew that the other was truly grateful.
"By the way, I noticed while you were fighting that you only have that wrench as a close range weapon. I think you're going to need something else if you want to get though this in one piece."
"You think?" Max said, rubbing his chin, remembering how close it had been when he tried to use a craft knife as a weapon. "What do you think I need?"
"Well, I think it would be useful if you had something like this." Monica reached down to her ankle and pulled out the knife she had used in the battle on the lafrescia flower. Up close, Max could see it wasn't just a knife, but an extremely ornate silver dagger. The oval shaped blade was three inches long and one inch wide at the thickest point, and it was completely smooth and sparkling except for several unrecognisable symbols, possibly letters from an ancient language which had been carefully engraved in the metal and filled in with dried ash. The hand guard was plain and thin, and would only cover a small part of the wielders hand, but it seemed very firm. The handle was also silver, but an elegant black rope had been twisted round it to provide grip, and the bottom of the knife had been capped with a piece of ivory. Max knew he'd never seen anything so beautiful in his life.
'Except perhaps the girl in front of me.' said a small voice in Max's head, surprising him for a moment.
"I could defiantly do with one of these." Max said as he carefully took the knife and looked at it more closely.
"You sure could. It's not just perfectly balanced and weighted." Monica smiled knowingly "That writing on the blade is a blessing to Fortuna to bring good luck, and the knife is made of light-silver, so it's unbreakable and has purifying powers against demons and ghosts."
"Wow. This is some knife." said Max. "Where did you get it? This is like something that royalty would have."
Monica's smile became a little fixed for a moment. She stayed quite for a moment, then she leaned forward and said "Keep it."
"What?"
"Keep it Max." Monica unstrapped the leather sheath and held it out. "I think it's just what you need."
"Monica, I can't take this from you. It's far too valuable."
"I want you to keep it Max," Monica said firmly "as thanks for agreeing to help me with my mission."
She pushed the sheath into Max's hand.
"Honestly, you don't know what it means to me having someone helping me like this. I just wish I could repay you more."
Max shifted in embarrassment and said "Hey, it was nothing. I mean, I would have done the same for anyone who was in trouble or needed help."
"True." Monica said with another knowing smile "But it was me who you helped."
Both were silent. Max because he wasn't sure what to say; Monica because she didn't have anything else to say. It was an apprehensive moment. Thoughts ran quickly through the kids heads. Thoughts focused on the person in front of them. The moment ended when Cedric appeared in the doorway.
"Well, we're well on the way to Balance Valley." the old mechanic said calmly. "You two lookin' forward to it?"
"Guess so." Max replied.
"Good. By the way, Max. There's somethin' I wanna ask ye."
Cedric cleared his throat and then…
"WHAT IN TARNATION DID YOU DO TE STEVE?" he roared like a grey haired lion. "HE LOOKS LIKE YOU DROPPED HIM OFF A CLIFF! I LET YOU ALONE WITH MY GREATEST INVENTION FOR A FEW MINUTES-"
Cedric continued to rant and rave at Max long into the night, while Monica looked on in thinly concealed amusement.
And so, our adventure in the forest came to an end.
Holly, the mysterious women who was lost in the woods wasn't you mother. But for some reason I wasn't surprised. I think I had always known that I'd find you at the end of our journey.
With the train repaired and our path clear, we set our sight's on Balance Valley
X
Four months till update. What can I say? Sorry…..
Anyway, give me a review all the same, and while you're at it I've made some slight changes to the last chapters so feel free to look at them again
SPG inc.
