Chapter 21: The Seal Stones
(M/A/P/L/F)
So, the heroes have liberated Ereve and can now proceed to defeat the Black Mage. Only problem is - how?! Anyways, thanks for the reviews and... yeah.
Aran, Freud, and Afrien reached the top of the stairs and entered the observatory. They were greeted by the sight of blood and the dust of skeletons. Luminous was busy healing his allies while they all talked.
"What happened in here?" Aran asked.
"Hilla - she was in charge of this whole operation." Mercedes said bitterly.
"Who is Hilla?" Freud asked.
"She is the Chief Shamaness of Azwan and a necromancer." Luminous replied.
"Azwan? I thought that it was a myth." Freud said incredulously.
"Apparently not. However, Phantom was able to defeat Hilla and forced her to flee." Mercedes said somewhat uncomfortably.
"Phantom defeated Hilla? Excellent!" Aran cried.
Freud did not look as happy as Aran. On the contrary, he kept looking meaningfully into Phantom's eyes. Phantom back a stare that said 'We'll speak later'.
"But now that Hilla has been defeated, the people of Ereve are safe." Afrien said, breaking the silence.
"Afrien - you've gotten bigger!" Mercedes cried.
"Yes - the Spirit Pact that Afrien and I made has shown its strength. Afrien and I have increased out abilities tenfold!" Freud said.
"With the strength we've acquired, there's no way we could lose to the Black Mage not!" Aran cried.
"I wouldn't be so sure." Luminous chided, "The Black Mage is a being of absolute evil. He is ruthless and without mercy. We cannot rely on our abilities solely."
At this, he gave a nasty look at Phantom who glared back.
"You are right, Luminous. We have to find an alternative if we are too weak to defeat him." Freud said.
"So what do we do, Freud?" Phantom inquired.
"What could we do that doesn't involve fighting him?" Aran asked.
"Well, we could..." Freud started, but broke off.
"What could we do?" Mercedes encouraged him.
"We could... seal him!" Freud cried.
The Heroes gave an extremely confused look to him.
"What do you mean Freud?" Afrien asked.
"In El Nath, there is a powerful magician. He was once my apprentice, but now experiments with spell about time."
"Time? Do you actually mean what I think you mean?" Phantom asked.
"Yes - we could seal the Black Mage with a powerful spell that would trap him in that moment of time forever." Freud clarified.
"W-What? Do you have any idea how absurd that is?" Aran asked.
"I agree. Do you realize how much power that would take? And not to mention that if the Black Mage is as powerful as he is said to be, he could easily break such a spell no matter how powerful it is." Luminous said skeptically.
"That is why it should be a safeguard. Luminous, Afrien, and I are the only people with a high mana, but even our combined powers wouldn't even be close to what we need. That is why I propose we should borrow the power of Rhinne - she is the Transcendent of Time itself! She could lend us some of her power to seal him. However, to do that, one must give up all his energy as an offering. This should be used only as a fail-safe. Do you all understand?" Freud said.
They all nodded and Freud suddenly smiled. But, Luminous did not smile. His face was skeptical and worrisome.
"There's two problems however. To seal him, we must acquire magical objects that would contain enough strength to hold time back. Secondly, we don't even know where the Black Mage is!" he said.
"Not to worry. My former apprentice can help us with that." Freud said brightly.
"Then we must go to El Nath. But first, we should return to the refugees." Phantom said.
The Heroes left the tower and returned to the refugee camp. Empress Cygnus was awake and playing with her hair. She smiled brightly as she saw the Heroes return.
"Ereve has been liberated! You are all free to live in peace once more!" Freud cried.
There was a roar of cheers and applause as people hugged each other and yelled thank you to the Heroes. They smiled at the joy they had brought onto the people. Empress Cygnus whispered something into Shinsoo's ear, who nodded to her. Cygnus ran over and gave a hug to each of the Heroes. Finally, she reached Phantom and looked cautiously at him.
Phantom smiled and said, "I prefer a woman with a smile on her face."
Cygnus's face brightened as she gave a hug to Phantom. Phantom grinned and hugged her back and looked into her face. He could see the resemblance of Cygnus to Aria and wondered if she would make as good an Empress as Aria did.
"But she does not look like a child. On the contrary, she looks more... mature" Phantom noted.
"On behalf of Ereve, I thank you all for your bravery." Cygnus said in a surprisingly adult-like voice.
The Freud, Luminous, and Phantom bowed to her. Aran and Mercedes curtsied, and Afrien gave a gentle rumble.
"What are your plans for now?" Neinheart asked.
"We are going to El Nath. There, we must do something to aid us in our battle with the Black Mage." Mercedes said.
"Then may the Transcendents watch over you. We wish you good fortune with your journey." Shinsoo said.
"Will the people of Ereve fall into enchanted slumber?" Aran asked.
"Yes... when you leave, I shall cast a spell to make everyone standing on Ereve fall asleep until the Black Mage is defeated." Shinsoo replied.
"When the Black Mage is no more, Ereve will find peace." Luminous said.
"We will take our leave now." Phantom said.
"Good luck, Heroes. MapleWorld stands with you." Cygnus said.
The Heroes bowed and got on Afrien, who could now sustain their weight. He gave a roar and took off towards the Lumiere. They got on, where Gaston greeted them faithfully. They got on and Phantom told Renault to head for El Nath. The ship took off and headed for El Nath. Aran and Mercedes said they were tired and left for their rooms. Afrien squeezed his way into the Training Hall, where he feasted on Mushrooms. Luminous went on the Watch Platform and started to meditate. Phantom tapped Freud and gestured him to follow him onto the Bridge.
"What is is, Phantom?"
"You know what it is. You knew that I'd leave to gather information. That's why you didn't give me anything else to do while Mercedes and Luminous were fighting."
"You've caught me, Phantom. Consider it returning the favor for that talk we had."
"All right, I suppose. But what are you planning during the battle? You already know why I agreed to join in the first place. I know who killed her. I want revenge."
"I already took it into account. Don't worry, Phantom! I know everything I'm doing."
"I know."
Phantom walked to the edge - his favorite spot. The full moon shone brightly and washed over Phantom with its cool breeze.
"This must be your favorite time of day." Freud said.
"Why do you suppose that?" Phantom asked.
"The moon on your belt, the midnight-blue cloth on your hat - I'm guessing you may have even brought Aria up here at one time?" Freud asked.
Normally, Phantom would have recessed into his shell to avoid any judgement. But Freud did not seem mean-spirited. He was genuinely interested and spoke kindly. Phantom turned and stared into his sea-blue eyes.
"Yes... I did." he said.
"You miss her a lot, don't you?"
A redundant question, but Phantom still answered, "Yes - I do."
More silence.
"Phantom, I'm guessing here, but I don't think that you like Luminous. Can you please tell me why?" Freud asked.
"I don't hate him!" Phantom said sharply.
"You can't put anything over me. I see the way you two look at each other. You don't even know him. Just give him a chance." Freud said.
Before Phantom could answer, the other Heroes came to the Bridge and said, "We're here."
Renault landed in the same spot as last time. The Heroes left and walked to the town of El Nath.
"So, where is this apprentice of yours? Moreover, what is his name?' Phantom asked.
"He is not far. His name is Alcaster." Freud replied.
"Alcaster? I've heard of him." Phantom said, smirking.
"Of course you've had! You've given him hell by stealing all his Magic Rocks!"
"I was testing out something! I tried to open a Mystic Door, but it didn't work so I learned that I needed Magic Rocks to make one."
"How could you open a portal? Only a Magician could do such a feat!" Luminous asked.
"Oh, Luminous. If you know anything about me, it's that I am the greatest thief of all time! I am so talented, I can even steal other peoples' skills!" Phantom cried.
"Steal skills? If that is even possible, in that case - you sicken me!" Luminous shouted.
"Why, thank you." Phantom said with a bow.
"Oh, I should- " Luminous started.
Freud cleared his throat and pointed to a large wooden house in front of them.
"We're here. This is the house of Alcaster. Now I am warning you, Phantom: keep your hands to yourself!" Freud warned.
"Of course, Freud." Phantom mocked.
Freud gave a foreboding look at Phantom before knocking.
"Who's there? If you're that no-good thief, you've got another thing coming!" a voice cried out.
Freud sighed and gave a slightly amused smile to Phantom before turning towards the door.
"No, Alcaster - it's me, Freud." he said.
The door opened a crack, where the face of a young man, no older than 20, appeared. His eyes darted and looked over each of the people in front of him, and widened at the sight of the master thief.
"It's okay, Alcaster! He's not going to take any more of your Magic Rocks - aren't you, Phantom?" Freud said.
"Yes, mother." Phantom joked.
"Master Freud, is that you?" Alcaster asked, opening the door, "What in blazes are you doing with a dragon?! And why is that thief here?"
"Alcaster, these are my allies. This Afrien, King of the Onyx Dragons. The rest are Mercedes - Queen of Elves, Aran - Chief of Rien, Luminous - Mage of Light, and Phantom - Master Thief." Freud said, pointing at each of them individually.
"Master Thief is right - do you know how long it took me to restock my inventory?! Hundreds of Magicians yelling that they couldn't make Mystic Doors anymore! I-"
"Alcaster, I'm sorry for Phantom's mistakes, but we are in need of your assistance. Do you have anything that can stop time forever?" Freud asked.
Alcaster stopped abruptly with his monologue of how Magicians set his shop ablaze because of that no good thief. He opened his mouth and closed it repeatedly as he looked at Freud in confusion.
"Why would you ask me such a question, Master?" he asked.
"We are on a mission that will decide the fate of our world - we are on our way to face the Black Mage, but we need something to stop time to help us defeat him."
"Please, the fate of MapleWorld depends on us - we need your help!" Mercedes cried.
"Yes - it is crucial that the Black Mage be stopped before he can cause anymore chaos." Luminous added.
"The Black Mage, you say? Just what are you all planning? You're not actually trying to seal him in time?!" Alcaster cried.
"Yes, but only as a safeguard." Aran corrected, "We are hoping to defeat him first."
"Hmm... to seal such a powerful being... I know!" Alcaster suddenly said.
The Heroes looked at each other in amazement and gave a look to Alcaster to continue.
"There are five stones that fell from the stars long ago. According to legend, these stones held the secrets of time and space. They could hold enough power to seal the Black Mage himself. I have been studying them for a while, and I think that they could help you on your mission. Unfortunately, they are scattered all throughout MapleWorld. They must also be cracked and worn out from centuries of dormancy. Their power must be transferred into something else that is not as chipped - otherwise the Black Mage could easily break the seal on them and escape. I will give you a map I've made that shows the locations of the stones."
Alcaster handed Freud a heavily written map that was circled in five places. Freud studied the map and turned towards the Heroes.
"The locations of the stones are: Orbis, Mu Lung, Ereve, El Nath, and Victoria Island." he said to them.
"They are too far apart! It may take years just to find one!" Luminous cried.
"I agree. That is why we should split up to find them. And also- " Freud said, turning to Alcaster, "- we do not know the whereabouts of the Black Mage. Do you know any leads to help us?"
Alcaster frowned and paced back and forth. After a few moments, his eyes fell upon another map on his wall.
"There are no sightings of the Black Mage, but there are many sightings of dark activity in the Nihal Desert. Some say there is a hidden city guarded by an obelisk. Others say there is unrest in Magatia. Both are strange news - the desert is usually long and empty and the Zenumists and Alcadnos are very close societies. They are matters worth investigat-"
A smash interrupted Alcaster's report. The blade of Aran's pole-arm broke clean off of the handle and broke Alcaster's chair.
"M-My pole-arm!" Aran cried in panic.
"It's okay!" Mercedes reassured, "You can get a new one."
"There used to be a great weapon-smith in Mu Lung. He was the one who made my favorite cane. I suggest you head to Mu Lung. While you get a new weapon, you could look for the first Seal Stone!" Phantom said.
"Okay. I'll get a new weapon and find the first Seal Stone." Aran said, slightly relieved.
"Freud, Afrien and I will investigate Nihal Desert." Mercedes said.
"Phantom and Luminous - you two should head over to Orbis and find the second Seal Stone." Freud said.
Phantom and Luminous looked at each other in distaste and stepped away from each other.
"We'll all rendezvous back here in maybe a week or so and discuss our findings. I'll try to come early and find the third Seal Stone in El Nath." Aran suggested.
"All right. I wish us all luck." Luminous said.
"The same." replied the others.