WARNING: For details on overall warning, see Chapter One. Also in warning
– generally depreciating overall lack of funny. Those prone to cringing
should proceed with caution.
Author's note: You deserve an excuse for the sad length of time between updates, but if you're anywhere near as paranoid as I am, you'll just be convinced it's all an elaborate lie anyway. Thanks for your patience. I had a panic attack when I noticed a slew of curiously timed reviews pouring in, reminding me of my recent lack of time perception, so I got to work on this chapter right away! Thus, maybe some of the quality suffers. Sorry, I'm human, as much as the FBI thinks otherwise. Hope you guys are more forgiving than the FBI, too.
Response to the Reviewers!:
FrickinEvilPoptart: In the darkest part of the game indeed, I intend to laden the humour a little more thickly in the next bunch of chapters, humour gland being willing. GASP! You haven't beaten SD3? That's.... terribly depressing. Of course the balloons were awesome, but they're FAR too easy to make fun of. (Laughs) Your reviews always crack me up, though I would thank you to refrain from stealing my toothbrush. (Waves away any reviewing guilt).
Wings of Lead: As usual, thank you so much for your review – you always notice the really important parts of the chapter. (Laughs) The 8-bit theatre thing sounded hilarious, if I did cameos. If nothing else, I might do a one-shot with it sometime, or maybe you could do one? (Come on, flood the SD3 section with one-shots, flood it! You know you want to. Whee!) Thanks as usual for your musing, it gives me so many ideas, directly or not. Hope you like the chapter.
Terra-Sama: Actually, I beg to differ! Ado is an actual word! Now you can become a world-champion Scrabble-player! Especially seeing as you can actually spell 'adieu' (rarer than you think). Thanks for the review.
Just Call Me Angels: I'd hate to make you wait, but this probably isn't ending until it's about fifty chapters (makes face). I would hold a competition to see which of you or FrickinEvilPoptart is the biggest perv, but I am afraid of the mayhem that may result. Hmm, 'babies', 'boobies', both probably work in that context. Thanks for the review!
WaterDragonerS: Yes, a lousy chapter title, I knew. It was kind of last minute. I shall endeavour to improve. (No promises) Thanks for the review!
Slash the Ironman: (Painful images of a shot kneecap). Ow.
ThunDaGa: Hey, that makes TWO of us who are running out of things to say! I'm not alone! Woot!
Shin-Ryu Warrior: Thanks for dropping a review and I hope you like this chapter.
Lone Ronin: I try to read and review all of my reviewer's work out of courtesy if nothing else, but some don't write in any fandom I read in (which kind of destroys the point). Not to worry, Mana Beast of Moon and Wind, and most definitely Fire, will all be written. At this stage, the only one I've definitely skipped actually writing the battle for will be the Mana Beast of Light. And I had the party touch down in Altena because they really needed to sleep and eat, and I needed a place to finish the chapter. Thanks for your review!
Feyenal Dragon: Wow, thanks for the high praise! (Blushes – Ack, facial capillaries wide open!).
Solarious: Long time no see! Lucky for you, I find the idea of drool on my shoes highly unappealing (however, begging is always acceptable) LOL, kidding. Ah, the 'Evil' and 'Parents' all in one sentence philosophy. I see. I hope this evil has been adequately smited for you sake. Yeah, Rosa seems to have vanished. You guys will just have to write more SD3 fanfiction to try and fill the void (very very big void) she left! Thanks for the review.
James the Phox: Yeah, like I said, not one of my better chapter titles. (I myself am suffering from Titlyoid). I guess it's refreshing to know that people still read them, though. Hmm, I thought I recognised you, but maybe your E-Mail just bears a startling resemblance to someone else's, now that I think about it. Ah well. Thanks very much for the review!
TenshiNoAkuma: I have similar issues with novelisation of the games myself (hence the random disregard for storyline). The odd bit of familiarity is nice, but I at least try and keep things fresh. (Except the jokes. Those are way past stale by now.) LOL, thanks for the review!
Kurai-Jaugen-Doragon: (Breathes a sigh of relief). Happy that Koren appearance met your inspection. I sincerely hope to survive another chapter of Koren before I get back into safer waters. Heh heh, thanks for the review.
Truewind: I can't for the life of me remember what movie inspired the magical sphere thing for the Fairy either (I'm pretty sure it was a movie, or maybe a TV show...) but it was there in my head, and I'll be damned if I start ignoring the voices NOW. As usual, Truewind sees through all, and keeps me on my toes. Thanks as always for the review!
^_^: Indeed. As much fun as it would have been to have Bigieu and Jagan stick around, two of the three main characters come from that storyline.
Cookie Pixie: NO MORE ANIME?! NOOOO! Well, coincidentally, I didn't actually get the chance to watch any until now, but I'm planning an anime orgy tonight. Just me, some two-minute noodles, and a stack of DVDs. It was harder to do humour in that one, hopefully I'll get out of the humour rut soon. Well, thanks for the review, and hope you like this chapter.
The One and Only T: One month later.... Angela must be the cleanest Delvar ever.
Violettegal345: New reviewer! Hello! (Stares). The whole fic in one day? It doesn't make you weird.... Just very impressive (Mind boggled). That's some attention span, not to mention your pain tolerance must be through the roof.... Thanks for the review, hope you keep reading!
Ack! Enough from me! You've waited more than enough for this chapter, I hope you like it. I'll try and pick up my act. Honestly. If I was lying, wouldn't it be more elaborate?
_______________
Another Witchmaker
Chapter 36 – What's the Going Exchange Rate for Mana Swords?
By Sinnatious
************
The next morning - though in all rights it was probably getting closer to afternoon - found the trio at last fed, bathed and rested. Well, the rested part in Duran's case was disputable; he had been so uptight that he had woken far before all of them, and had seemed to have spent most of the morning nervously shining the Mana Sword again and again. At this rate, he could blind his opponents with it before even having to take a swing. It was to be expected, she supposed, given that much like herself, Duran had been planning on confronting the Red Wizard for some time, and it was starting to look like today might be the day. Still, the proper rest, food and baths had done all of them some good - she hadn't even noticed how run- down Hawk had been until after he cleaned up. The tan had probably done some good to hiding the accumulated dirt. Duran, well, he always looked good, but he positively shone after a good scrub up. Quite literally. When DID he find the time to shine all of that armour?
Enjoying the feel of newly cleaned dress, shoes, and hair, not to mention a full stomach, Angela stretched as she stood up from the table. It almost seemed a shame to ruin the temporary peaceful pall the extra sleep had settled over her by finding the annoying Fairy again. Being able to wake up without the annoying preachy voice yelling in her ear had been a rare treat. She allowed herself a wicked grin at that. She doubted that Koren would have been able to get any sleep with the Fairy in his presence. It might just be HIS turn to have rings under his eyes and bed hair.
Fortunately this time the innkeeper hadn't recognised the bedraggled travellers that had stumbled in half-dead the night before, or was keeping quiet about it until he could go and modify his sign to say 'Princess Angela stayed here TWICE', so there didn't look to be anything much keeping them from heading to Altena right now. He'd even been so nice to let them have their usual last minute 'strategy council' in private. By that, it usually meant that Duran would state the obvious, the Fairy would give them a plan full of holes, Hawk would comment on Angela's waistline, and she'd throw spells at him until the innkeeper would throw them out, at which point they'd wind up doing whatever the thief suggested while the Fairy complained that HER plan was perfectly okay. Of course, without the Fairy here, this delicate balance had been terribly upset.
"We should plan what we're going to do," Duran said, in an unusual instance of foresight, as opposed to the usual bust-in-now-think-what-to-do-later scenario the Knight seemed to favour. He really HAD been up most of the night thinking about it. "The Red Wizard will probably want to exchange the Fairy for the Sword, and will set up the meeting so that we HAVE to lose one or the other."
"He could have at least offered to buy it," Hawk mumbled. "I'd bet the Mana Sword would go for a SONG on the Black Market."
"Hawk!"
"What?! Don't deny that you also think that the Fairy for the Sword is hardly a fair exchange!"
Glancing at the thief, looking worried at even the suggestion, Duran continued regardless, "-But maybe if there was some sort of back way into the Palace, we could get Flammie to drop us there and we could snatch the Fairy back first?" He suggested hopefully.
Clearing her throat, the Princess stepped up. She really hated having to ruin a plan that the Forcenan had clearly spent a great deal of time thinking up. She had long given up on judging her intended future boyfriend on the same scales of mental acuity as everyone else. "Altena has magical wards set up protecting it from aerial attack. And the only way onto the Palace Grounds by foot is through the entrance," she informed them, grateful that being Princess had at least made her privy to such information, even if she didn't bother to memorise ALL of it. At least if a battle with Koren was forthcoming, it was going to be on home turf. Koren's home turf, too, she admitted begrudgingly, but she liked to think that as Princess she knew the palace a little better than he did.
"Oh," was all the disappointed Knight had to say. "So.... we have to go through the snow fields again?"
"Flammie ought to be able to drop us off by the gates," she assured him, catching Hawk giving a happy sigh of relief out of the corner of her eye when it was realised that the long trek through the snow wouldn't be necessary. "But aside from that we'll have to take a normal route to the Palace."
"Sounds simple enough," the Knight commented.
"Don't forget that there's the army to contend with," she muttered. "Even if there a no-kill mandate at the moment, I'm sure Koren would prefer to use the army to capture us and just take the Sword without having to make any sort of deal." Unless he grew tired of the Fairy and just gave her back to them anyway. At which point he'd probably just kill all of them. As much faith she had developed in her magic, she didn't want to take on the entire Altenan army if she could help it.
"So we need a way to get through Altena to the Palace without having to fight the entire army," Duran reasoned. Their task seemed to become more complicated by the second.
"Ah, just leave that one to me," Hawk drawled from where he was draped over his seat, flashing them a quick smile.
Raising an eyebrow, the Princess decided not to ask. It was generally a good idea not to question the thief's methods too deeply, and he hadn't messed up yet, so....
Nodding, Duran said, "In that case, when we do get there, we can always try and fight Koren over it. I'm sure by now we could win."
Angela was beginning to doubt that, even with all of the Elementals and the Goddess herself behind them. Koren was clearly getting a whole lot of power from SOMEWHERE, her guess being the Underworld, though how the wizard had achieved THAT was anyone's guess. Still, he was still human, right? With all three of them, they might stand a chance. "Besides," she added half-heartedly, "I doubt that Koren would just hand the Fairy back over anyway." After all, what were the chances of the Red Wizard playing fair now?
Seemingly decided on this course of action, the Knight was nodding to himself. "There's no other way then. We bust in, fight Koren, grab the Fairy, and bust out!" Duran must have been a little worried himself, if he was using 'fight' instead of 'kill' when referring to Koren, but naturally refused to be cowed and was insistent as usual on stubbornly striding towards his own death. "We shouldn't waste anymore time! Let's go call Flamme."
Nearly falling out of their seats in their effort to catch up with the Knight before he wound up storming Altena Palace all by himself, Angela pausing only to grab her crystal cane, the Delvar and Ranger hurried after him, Hawk belatedly realising he still had possession of the drum, and made to call Flammie.
As the drum rang out, Angela grimaced. "You idiot! Don't call her here! There are people everywhere! You'll draw a crowd!"
"So? I'm freezing! Besides, how could I pass up the chance to have this many people see me with such a beautiful woman? Oh, and the Mana Knight himself," Hawk added on as an afterthought. "It'll score me so much credibility!"
Angela snorted as the white dragon swiftly dove from the sky - from the snow Flammie was shaking from her feathers, it seemed that she hadn't wandered far at all, taking the Knight's advice to heart, though how the young dragon seemed to understand them was anyone's guess. Seemed to understand them well enough to figure out being insulted when her gender was mistaken, and to further understand Hawk's affectations. It was probably another Mana thing.
Hurriedly clambering on to her back and ignoring the surprised cries of the various townspeople, they urged Flammie to take to the sky. The poor populace of Snow City Elrand probably thought they were under attack. Though how anyone could be afraid of anything so cute was hard to comprehend. Either way, the white dragon was quick to take off again, skimming playfully over the snow-covered treetops.
The Sub-Zero Snowfields were much prettier when you weren't actually walking through them, Angela noted absently. The trip was really too short to fully appreciate it, though. Flammie, as though sensing the magical defenses that started right at Altena's Gates and spanned a considerable distance, dropped them off outside the looming gates to Altena and left quickly.
The Princess was confronted with mixed feelings, staring at those massive gates. Theoretically, she ought to like the sight of them - being future ruler of Altena and all - but over time she had been developing a profound dislike for the things. Probably started right about that time she wound up outside of them, fleeing for her life into the Snowfields with nothing more than the clothes on her back and her accessory cane. The things were just downright gaudy, too. Some ancient architect really had lousy taste - the Gates were ridiculously ornate, even for Altenan livery.
"What the-? It's iced over!" Duran exclaimed, pushing on the gates in frustration, tiny crystals of snow and ice shaking off it as he pushed his weight against it.
"Angie? What kind of mechanisms do these Gates use?" Hawk asked, not bothering to waste his energy trying to open them, and clearly unwilling to touch anything that was literally covered in ice.
Frowning, she replied, "Locked by ice magic. I suppose that Koren must have planned on making us wait out here before he opened it. Maybe even planned an ambush."
Duran cursed, rubbing his hands together to drive away the cold. Having expected quick passage into the magically warmed Altena, not even Hawk had gone to the trouble of being properly prepared for the weather. "We have to wait for him to open it?! He could leave us out here for hours!"
Grinning, the Delvar pushed a stray strand of lavender hair from her face. "Ah, but Koren has clearly forgotten that I can do magic far beyond that of his regular army flunkies now!" Surely the Knight would praise her for THIS. "I'll just melt the barricade, and we can let ourselves in! A decent-sized fireball should do it!"
"If only all girls I met were as resourceful as you, Angie," Hawk murmured, rubbing his arms to keep the feeling in them.
The Princess briefly contemplated shoving some snow down his pants for no particular reason, and wondering if even that would be enough to shut the blasted thief up.
"Please just do it, Princess, we can't stand out here all day!" Duran begged, hopping from foot to foot to keep warm.
"Fine, fine!" Angela grumbled, prepping the fire spell to melt the icy barricade. After all the adventures they had been going through, and the Knight was still calling her 'Princess'? While he's at it, why not Your Highness? Granted, he probably felt obliged to refer to her in a more formal manner because he was just a knight, and well, let's be honest, she was divine royalty, but Hawk, HAWK of all people, a lowly thief for Goddess's sake, called her 'Angie'! If he could do it, why couldn't Duran? She wasn't going to get anywhere with him if he wasn't willing to call her by at least a nickname!
The thief in question had moved a good distance away, for some reason. Looking at him in puzzlement, she realised why as Duran flapped his arms in a panic. "Princess, do you really need a fireball THAT big?"
Ooops. In her irritation she'd lost track of the spell. Wow, Jose would be proud of this one.... but what was she going to do with it?
Seconds later, nothing was remaining of the icy barricade. And not much of the gates, either.
Coughing nonchalantly, the Princess strode through the charred and smoking remains of the Gates as though it had been her intention all along. It was amazing what a little sleep and food could do to one's magic. "Didn't like those Gates anyway."
She then stopped, and blinked, when she realised that a good portion of the army was standing not too far beyond the Gates, and were now staring at her in something of a shocked surprise. Oh yeah.... she'd forgotten about that. "Hawk," she hissed, "Whatever your plan was, I'd put it into action NOW!"
"Coming, coming. A little help from Jinn, Angie?" Hawk asked with a grin as the army stood there - apparently none of them had quite figured out what to do yet. Maybe in her prolonged absence, they had all forgotten how to recognise their Princess. Or more likely, all of Altena's sorceresses were staring at Duran's handsome visage, blinded by his good looks. Angela wondered briefly if the all-female Amazoness army of Rolante ever encountered this kind of problem. It was weakness that could eventually be exploited should their enemies discover it.
Not bothering to ask why, Angela set about summoning a wind as Hawk laid a hand on the ground, and started murmuring under his breath as a warm glow spread out from beneath his fingertips. Slowly, breaking and uncurling from the ground at an impossibly fast rate, a bed of familiar flowers began to grow and blossom before their very eyes, throwing fine grains of pollen into the air. "Sleep Flower!" Hawk announced with a flourish. Eyes widening in realisation, Angela reinforced Jinn's breeze to spread the cloud of fragrant pollen throughout Altena. After a moment of surprised cries, and a few hasty counter-spells that were cast too late, the Altenan soldiers' eyes began to droop, and they quickly fell to the ground in unconsciousness; a peacefully sleeping horde.
Silence fell as the pollen made its way through the city. It had worked just like it had at Rolante. Hawk seemed very pleased with himself. "Taken right out of Navarre's book."
Angela tried to hide her annoyance at her companion's success. She kept forgetting that the Ranger had acquired both Luna's and Dryad's magic, and his little stunt had clearly upstaged her fireball! Duran was slapping him on the back and congratulating him on his brilliant strategy, which theoretically, she fumed, was Don Perigon's in the first place, and didn't she deserve the same praise for using Jinn to spread the pollen throughout the city?!
Trying to distract herself from what she refused to admit was jealousy of the desert rat's natural skill for magic, she strode determinedly through the now-quiet streets of her once-home, occasionally nonchalantly stepping over the odd unconscious guard. Goddess, she'd missed Altena.... nearly everything was as she remembered it. That was a little disconcerting, she liked to think that Altena would be a little more affected by the disappearance of their Princess..... even if that Princess couldn't use magic.... and the Queen didn't seem to be set to die anytime soon..... Unless Koren killed her first. Surely it was worth at least one riot, though!
"Do you think they're all asleep?" Duran asked, stopping to nudge a sleeping witch with his toe. She didn't respond.
Hawk shrugged. "Most of the regular army should be. If the Dark Knight is working with Koren, though, we should be careful - he was at Rolante, and he might have developed a resistance to the flower like we did. And I don't know how well it would work against someone like Koren, either."
"Neat."
"So, this is Altena, huh?" the Navarrian commented with a low whistle, hands behind his head and he strode leisurely alongside the Princess. "Nice. Looks rich."
She glared at the thief from the corner of her eye. "No stealing here, or I'll have you put to death faster than a rabite in a field of Beastmen."
"Oh, so it's okay to steal from other Kingdoms then?"
"I have to insist you refrain from it in Forcena too," Duran injected hastily, before adding, "Not that I really think you should steal at all."
At least the Fairy wasn't here. This discussion would probably be prolonged painfully if she was. Did they REALLY want to rescue her? "As far as I see it, Rolante and Wendel are fair game!"
"Ah yes, I'm going to steal from poor village people and a fortress on the world's tallest mountain," he retorted dryly.
"Since when did you develop honour?"
"It's not honour! Poor village people have nothing to steal!"
"Princess, is this the Palace?" Duran asked. Angela raised an eyebrow, trying to restrain the urge to reply 'Duh'. If the majestic building that was probably the same size as the town itself wasn't the Palace, what did the Knight think it was? The shopping district?
"Sure is," she answered instead, striding confidently up past numerous sleeping sentries. Hopefully Dryad's magic would last as long as their business took, otherwise getting out might be a problem. They hadn't really thought too deeply about that part. It was nice to think that they might have one-up on Koren in terms of strategy, though, even with the slight, erm, handicap on their team. If the Wizard was going to fight dirty, they would too!
Fortunately, the interior of the palace was also inhabited only by sleeping guards. Striding confidently through the hallways, the Princess led her comrades through her home towards the throne room, where Koren was inevitably standing next to her mother. Dear Goddess, she'd missed this place. It was so odd to feel such danger in such familiar surroundings. Koren would suffer for doing this to her childhood home!
Well, it was Koren's childhood home, too, for the most part. But then, HE wasn't the one who'd been illegitimately thrown into exile by his own mother, either!
So caught up in her internal ranting, she almost didn't realise they'd reached the throne room until she found her feet stopping of their own accord, apparently having at some point gone into automatic and hoping that the Knight and Ranger didn't fall behind. "This is it," she announced needlessly.
"Let's not be rude by keeping them waiting," Hawk said with a grin, gesturing. "I think the Mana Knight should go first, don't you?"
Flashing something of a grin himself, Duran kicked open the doors with his usual flair, Angela wincing slightly at the bang. This WAS her home, didn't Duran at least consider he was damaging furniture when he went for such Dramatic Entries?
Koren coolly turned and regarded them - he was standing there in front of the throne as expected, and didn't seem the slightest bit surprised to see them. Ah, damn it. It probably was a bit much to hope that Hawk's spell had put him under too. Given their recent track record, that simply would have been too easy. It looked like this had the potential to escalate into battle after all.
Stepping up quietly beside the infamous Red Wizard was the Darkshine Knight, as well, Angela gauged, trying as quickly as possible to take in everything in the room. If there was going to be a battle, she didn't want any surprises. She felt her eyes narrow of their own accord when she spotted her mother, apparently either sleeping or unconscious on the throne. Lazy woman! Her own General was taking their nation over right under her nose, and she couldn't even do anything about it!
"So, you've arrived at last," Koren commented smoothly; though the 'at last' seemed a little more stressed than Angela had expected. She had to suppress the urge to snigger. Koren did look a little more tired than usual. Figures the Fairy kept him up with her babbling all night.
"Hand over the Fairy! Where is she?!" Duran demanded.
The Wizard of the Red Lotus raised a delicate eyebrow at that. "Show me the Sword first."
Reluctantly, the Forcenan held up the Mana Sword to be seen. They really didn't want to have to do a swap if they could help it, but until the Fairy was safe, with the Darkshine Knight there they couldn't really risk an ambush. The Sword at least could be retrieved in battle. The Fairy couldn't. And Koren was probably LOOKING for an excuse to end the miserable insect's existence, too.
"Here it is. Now you release the Fairy!"
Slowly, surely just for the sake of antagonizing them, the blonde removed the small crystal sphere from his scarlet cloak and held it in his fingertips. It looked somewhat as though the Fairy was yabbering on and she promptly started banging on the side of the globe as she saw them. They couldn't hear anything, though. Koren must have finally grown tired of the racket and simply cast a small silencing spell on the orb, Angela realised. Silence magic was something she was definitely going to have to try and learn.
"Put the Sword on the ground and back away ten paces from it," he ordered.
Duran's mask of indignation was a little too obvious. After all, it was hard to believe under such an exchange that the Red Wizard would keep his word. "No! Put down the Fairy first!"
Koren's expression flickered to boredom. "Put down the Sword and back away, or your precious Fairy dies." Magic sparked around his fist threateningly.
Gritting his teeth, Duran stepped forward and placed the Mana Sword carefully on the ground. Looking as though his heart was breaking as he left it - the man was far too attached to the Sword for his own good, though who could really blame him after all the trouble they'd gone through to get the damn thing - he carefully backed ten paces away, until he was standing alongside the Delvar and Ranger.
With the Darkshine Knight watching them carefully, Koren swiftly approached the Mana Sword laying on the ground. Seeing the Forcenan tense up, he warned, "Move an inch, and I crush the orb." Not that at this distance they'd really have time to ambush him successfully , anyway. Though Angela was finding a hard time controlling herself from lashing out at the man she'd wanted to kill for a very long time when he was standing there in plain view, within easy reach of a Dark Force spell.
Grinning triumphantly, the Wizard grasped the hilt, though his expression changed to one of surprise when he found he could barely lift it. He let out a hiss through his teeth another moment later when it appeared - the Delvar could scarce believe her eyes - as though the hilt itself was burning him! The Darkshine Knight took a step forward, reminding them not to take advantage Koren's vulnerable state.
As the dawning realisation set in, Angela couldn't help but comment smugly, "Doesn't belong to you, does it?"
Glaring daggers at her, he murmured a spell under his breath. Suddenly, the Sword seemed to dull, then readjust its glow to something.... different, something far more sinister than the shine it had acquired when Duran had grasped its hilt. "Dispelled it," she cursed under her breath. It seemed that the Wizard was capable of even more dark magics than she had originally expected.
Triumphant smirk settling in place once again, the Wizard held the Sword high, admiring it. "Amazing. The Emperor will be pleased indeed. This is truly the Mana Sword! It's power! With it, he is capable of anything!"
Duran seemed about ready to explode, seeing the coveted Mana Sword sitting in his worst enemy's hands, own hand poised on the hilt of his regular broadsword. "We held up our end of the bargain! Now let the Fairy go. Safely," he ordered.
The Red Wizard seemed amused. "You are far too naive, boy. Did you honestly believe that I would willingly let the Goddess's little puppet go free after I acquired the Mana Sword? I think that now is the time where...." he trailed off, lifting his left hand, and seeming most puzzled to discover it was empty.
"Looking for this?" Hawk commented, suddenly appearing in the corner of the Delvar's sight, holding a small crystal globe. Angela blinked. When had he MOVED?
"What?! How-?!" It was a rare thing to see the normally collected Wizard at such at loss. Angela was enjoying it immensely. By the grin on Hawk's face, he was enjoying it too.
"Surprise!"
Koren was not similarly impressed by this turn of events. "This was not part of the plan," he hissed.
"Well, it wouldn't have been much of a surprise if it was." Hawk expertly cracked open the small orb encasing the Fairy, who wasted not a second in rushing to the shoulder of her beloved Mana Knight.
"Arrogant fool!" he muttered, expression neutral even as his eyes were lighting with sparks of anger. He formed and threw a powerful fireball directly at the Navarrian in one swift move.
Angela let out a strangled cry at the fierce display of offensive magic. "Hawk!"
Koren blinked. Hawk was standing several metres away, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, still looking slightly amazed at being alive. The ground was molten where the thief had been standing previously, testament to the power and accuracy of the spell. Koren looked mildly shocked. "I..... missed?"
"Must be all the practice from dodging Angela's spells all the time," the Fairy sniggered from her vantage point. When the Red Wizard sent a cold glare in her direction, she let out a tiny 'eep!' and disappeared hurriedly into the Knight's head like the coward she was.
"Rotten cheating thief!" he spat.
Hawk rolled his eyes. "Look who's talking."
Re-composing himself, the General of the Altenan army drew his cloak around himself more tightly, firmly settling the Mana Sword onto his belt at his side. Gesturing briefly to the Darkshine Knight, he addressed them one last time. "It is no matter. I have what we came here for. I have no more time for the likes of you." With that, he strolled into the shadows, vanishing from sight as he did so. After a lingering glance at the Mana Knight, the Darkshine Knight followed, leaving the three heroes and their recovered Fairy alone in a suddenly oppressively large throne room.
The instant they were gone, the Delvar and Knight wheeled on the thief.
"Good work, Hawk," Duran commented, though he seemed distracted. "I thought we were going to lose the Fairy too for a second there."
Hawk just shrugged it off nonchalantly. "All in a day's work."
"Why didn't you steal the Mana Sword back while you were at it?!" Angela demanded.
"Give me a break, Angie! That thing's heavy! You saw how Koren couldn't even lift it until he'd dispelled Duran's bond with it."
"Well, maybe," she conceded begrudgingly. That was TWICE in one day the thief had upstaged her! And she didn't even get to take her potshot at the Red Wizard either! It had been quite some time since she'd been able to reflect on a day and actually say it had been a good one.
"Angela?" A voice asked in bewilderment from behind them. Whirling in surprise, the trio spotted the Queen of Reason, standing up from her throne, looking very confused at the two strangers situated with her daughter in the middle of the empty throne room.
In all of the commotion, they'd almost forgotten that Queen Valda of Altena was even there.
"Mother....," Angela began, trailing off. Again, she found herself confronted with a situation she'd been playing out in her head for weeks - or was it months? - and suddenly having no clue how she was supposed to react.
Meanwhile, the esteemed Queen of Reason seemed to be regarding her throne room in something of a daze, eyes drifting from a the molten patch of floor, to a Forcenan Knight, to a now clearly battle-hardened daughter and.... to a ragamuffin from Navarre? Not to mention, the throne room was rarely empty of both her General and advisors. Usually there was at least a servant nearby!
"I feel as though I've been missing a great deal. If you would care to inform me of what exactly is going on.....," she suggested, though there was no doubt in the minds of those present that it was an order. Duran had already instinctively gone into 'dealing with royalty' mode, having dropped respectfully to one knee. Hawk, as usual, didn't seem too bothered with formalities, as the Delvar caught him eying off some of the smaller decorations in the throne room, only settling his eyes forward with a pronounced cough and threatening glare from the resident Princess. And even then, she was pretty sure he was trying to evaluate the street value of her mother's crown.
Well, now was the difficult means of summarizing what was happening. What could one say to quite possibly one of the most powerful magicians in the world without setting them off? 'Oh yes, let's see, don't you remember? You and Koren were planning to sacrifice your magic-less daughter who ran off into exile, wound up on some crazy quest just so she could get some magic, on which she met up with the Mana Knight and an exiled thief from Navarre, with whom she stopped your Kingdom's invasion of Forcena, liberated Rolante from Navarre and there was the issue of all those Mana Stones to protect too, all the while being dogged by a slightly deranged High Priest's granddaughter. And did she forget to mention that they just came back from the Mana Holyland? Oh, and who could forget that your magic- less daughter swore revenge on your beloved General and now has enough magic to blow half the army out of the water? Or the fact that this beloved General was in fact just using Altena's resources to serve some Underworld Power and had stolen the mother of all magical artifacts, the Mana Sword itself, for undoubtedly nefarious purposes?'
She didn't think she'd take it too well. Regardless, she relayed the basic facts of the story, though made a point of cutting out some of the editorials.
When the abbreviated tale was finished, a dangerously neutral expression seemed to remain on her mother's face. "I see," Queen Valda said with narrowed eyes. Angela had to restrain herself from shifting under the scrutinizing gaze. Well, she had never really expected her mother to welcome her back with a big hug and warm words, even if she did have magic now. And it certainly didn't put one in a good mood to hear that their cherished General was in fact, a traitor of sorts. "If all of this is indeed true, then I suppose an apology is in order. It appears you've journeyed far as well, Sir Mana Knight and....," she seemed uncertain how exactly to address Hawk, but eventually settled for a slightly derisive, "....Navarrian Ambassador." The sarcasm was clearly not wasted on Hawk, who executed a mocking bow. "I shall issue orders immediately to lift the death warrant on your head, my daughter," she said, voice and eyes softening slightly as she once again regarded her exiled offspring. Was that pride there? No, the Princess had to be imagining things. Still, was it all really possible that all of that... had just been some sort of spell of Koren's, like what had been used on the Navarrian Thieves' entire Guild? It certainly SEEMED like her mother had absolutely no recollection, or at least very little, of what had been going on in the past few months. How long ago had it been that her mother had really been her mother then? And was she going to be willing to forgive her, even if she was under a spell?! This was too confusing!
"Oh, and you might want to have someone fix the Gates. I.... that is, we.... kind of damaged them a little on the way in. And most of Altena outside of the Palace should probably be woken up some time," Angela added hastily.
"Oh, the Gates hardly matter. Ugly things, really. I've been wanting to tear them down for years. This will give me an excuse," Queen Valda commented absently. Duran coughed from where he was kneeling, none too keen on informing her that Angela had already taken quite a bit more liberty than she'd divulged on that issue.
Well, it went better than expected, anyhow. No doubt they'd have to have a lengthier discussion later, but all in all the Queen seemed to be disturbingly accepting of the fact that it appeared to all present that she'd been under some sort of spell for quite some time. Fortunately, this was where Hawk was good at breaking eerily calm waters.
"All that being said, Your Highness, I don't suppose that such a fine woman yourself would be free to discuss.... international relations over drinks this evening?" Hawk said charmingly, throwing in a wink for good measure.
Queen Valda reacted before Angela even had the chance. "Ice Smash!"
Long used to dodging this spell from his companion, Hawk shivered none-the- less at the frosty reply. "Jeez, Angie, your mother is scarier than you."
"Shut up, you worthless street trash! That's no way to regard royalty!" Angela announced, swinging her own cane towards the Navarrian's head, who sidestepped again neatly.
Waving a hand dismissively, the Queen suddenly looked very tired, though not tired enough to glare at the 'Navarrian Ambassador'. "I have heard enough for now. I will speak with you again later. I imagine you must be tired, also, so I shall arrange rooms for you to stay the night. SEPERATE rooms," she said with a slight inclination of the head, fixing her gaze on Hawk, then on her daughter's apparently starry-eyed gaze on the still- kneeling Knight. "I'll need to confirm this with all of my advisors, of course, so I recommend you don't think about leaving prematurely."
That was a little more like the cold-hearted mother she remembered. Angela sometimes wondered if the Queen kept Altena warm by draining all personal forms of warmth from her personality. With nothing more to say, Valda swept from the room off into a side corridor. A moment later, some fierce yelling echoed back to them. "GET UP OFF THE FLOOR, YOU INDOLENT ARISTOCRAT!" Hawk and Duran looked curiously at Angela.
She shrugged. "That's probably her latest consort. He generally gets the blame when she messes up."
The Knight and Ranger looked mildly disturbed. "It disturbs me that you label a 'mess-up' as something that results in the death of thousands," Hawk murmured.
"It disturbs ME how much the daughter takes after the mother," the Fairy muttered, finally fluttering from the safe confines of the Knight's head.
"So, what do we do now? I mean, we're stuck here for the time being, according to Her Highness Queen Valda's wishes, but once that's taken care of, what next?" Duran asked the Fairy, who was looking none the worse for wear despite her ordeal and, oh yes, LOSING THE MANA SWORD. So much for their plan.
As usual reading her thoughts, the Fairy replied, "Losing the Mana Sword to Koren is a terrible blow, but I'm afraid that this is no longer our largest problem."
This day just kept getting better and better. "Ungrateful gnat! You're not even going to thank us for saving your worthless hide before you bring MORE bad news?!"
"This is really serious, Angela!"
"What is it that could possibly be more serious than losing the Mana Sword?" Duran wondered.
"How could you have forgotten?! The seals on all of the Mana Stones have been broken! The God-Beasts are now loose, and will soon combine into one creature that will destroy the world!"
Oh, that.
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A little shorter (not to mention later) than usual, I'll endeavour to make it up! Really! Please review, and maybe I'll try and think up some new jokes in response. (Maybe.) Thanks for your patience.
Author's note: You deserve an excuse for the sad length of time between updates, but if you're anywhere near as paranoid as I am, you'll just be convinced it's all an elaborate lie anyway. Thanks for your patience. I had a panic attack when I noticed a slew of curiously timed reviews pouring in, reminding me of my recent lack of time perception, so I got to work on this chapter right away! Thus, maybe some of the quality suffers. Sorry, I'm human, as much as the FBI thinks otherwise. Hope you guys are more forgiving than the FBI, too.
Response to the Reviewers!:
FrickinEvilPoptart: In the darkest part of the game indeed, I intend to laden the humour a little more thickly in the next bunch of chapters, humour gland being willing. GASP! You haven't beaten SD3? That's.... terribly depressing. Of course the balloons were awesome, but they're FAR too easy to make fun of. (Laughs) Your reviews always crack me up, though I would thank you to refrain from stealing my toothbrush. (Waves away any reviewing guilt).
Wings of Lead: As usual, thank you so much for your review – you always notice the really important parts of the chapter. (Laughs) The 8-bit theatre thing sounded hilarious, if I did cameos. If nothing else, I might do a one-shot with it sometime, or maybe you could do one? (Come on, flood the SD3 section with one-shots, flood it! You know you want to. Whee!) Thanks as usual for your musing, it gives me so many ideas, directly or not. Hope you like the chapter.
Terra-Sama: Actually, I beg to differ! Ado is an actual word! Now you can become a world-champion Scrabble-player! Especially seeing as you can actually spell 'adieu' (rarer than you think). Thanks for the review.
Just Call Me Angels: I'd hate to make you wait, but this probably isn't ending until it's about fifty chapters (makes face). I would hold a competition to see which of you or FrickinEvilPoptart is the biggest perv, but I am afraid of the mayhem that may result. Hmm, 'babies', 'boobies', both probably work in that context. Thanks for the review!
WaterDragonerS: Yes, a lousy chapter title, I knew. It was kind of last minute. I shall endeavour to improve. (No promises) Thanks for the review!
Slash the Ironman: (Painful images of a shot kneecap). Ow.
ThunDaGa: Hey, that makes TWO of us who are running out of things to say! I'm not alone! Woot!
Shin-Ryu Warrior: Thanks for dropping a review and I hope you like this chapter.
Lone Ronin: I try to read and review all of my reviewer's work out of courtesy if nothing else, but some don't write in any fandom I read in (which kind of destroys the point). Not to worry, Mana Beast of Moon and Wind, and most definitely Fire, will all be written. At this stage, the only one I've definitely skipped actually writing the battle for will be the Mana Beast of Light. And I had the party touch down in Altena because they really needed to sleep and eat, and I needed a place to finish the chapter. Thanks for your review!
Feyenal Dragon: Wow, thanks for the high praise! (Blushes – Ack, facial capillaries wide open!).
Solarious: Long time no see! Lucky for you, I find the idea of drool on my shoes highly unappealing (however, begging is always acceptable) LOL, kidding. Ah, the 'Evil' and 'Parents' all in one sentence philosophy. I see. I hope this evil has been adequately smited for you sake. Yeah, Rosa seems to have vanished. You guys will just have to write more SD3 fanfiction to try and fill the void (very very big void) she left! Thanks for the review.
James the Phox: Yeah, like I said, not one of my better chapter titles. (I myself am suffering from Titlyoid). I guess it's refreshing to know that people still read them, though. Hmm, I thought I recognised you, but maybe your E-Mail just bears a startling resemblance to someone else's, now that I think about it. Ah well. Thanks very much for the review!
TenshiNoAkuma: I have similar issues with novelisation of the games myself (hence the random disregard for storyline). The odd bit of familiarity is nice, but I at least try and keep things fresh. (Except the jokes. Those are way past stale by now.) LOL, thanks for the review!
Kurai-Jaugen-Doragon: (Breathes a sigh of relief). Happy that Koren appearance met your inspection. I sincerely hope to survive another chapter of Koren before I get back into safer waters. Heh heh, thanks for the review.
Truewind: I can't for the life of me remember what movie inspired the magical sphere thing for the Fairy either (I'm pretty sure it was a movie, or maybe a TV show...) but it was there in my head, and I'll be damned if I start ignoring the voices NOW. As usual, Truewind sees through all, and keeps me on my toes. Thanks as always for the review!
^_^: Indeed. As much fun as it would have been to have Bigieu and Jagan stick around, two of the three main characters come from that storyline.
Cookie Pixie: NO MORE ANIME?! NOOOO! Well, coincidentally, I didn't actually get the chance to watch any until now, but I'm planning an anime orgy tonight. Just me, some two-minute noodles, and a stack of DVDs. It was harder to do humour in that one, hopefully I'll get out of the humour rut soon. Well, thanks for the review, and hope you like this chapter.
The One and Only T: One month later.... Angela must be the cleanest Delvar ever.
Violettegal345: New reviewer! Hello! (Stares). The whole fic in one day? It doesn't make you weird.... Just very impressive (Mind boggled). That's some attention span, not to mention your pain tolerance must be through the roof.... Thanks for the review, hope you keep reading!
Ack! Enough from me! You've waited more than enough for this chapter, I hope you like it. I'll try and pick up my act. Honestly. If I was lying, wouldn't it be more elaborate?
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Another Witchmaker
Chapter 36 – What's the Going Exchange Rate for Mana Swords?
By Sinnatious
************
The next morning - though in all rights it was probably getting closer to afternoon - found the trio at last fed, bathed and rested. Well, the rested part in Duran's case was disputable; he had been so uptight that he had woken far before all of them, and had seemed to have spent most of the morning nervously shining the Mana Sword again and again. At this rate, he could blind his opponents with it before even having to take a swing. It was to be expected, she supposed, given that much like herself, Duran had been planning on confronting the Red Wizard for some time, and it was starting to look like today might be the day. Still, the proper rest, food and baths had done all of them some good - she hadn't even noticed how run- down Hawk had been until after he cleaned up. The tan had probably done some good to hiding the accumulated dirt. Duran, well, he always looked good, but he positively shone after a good scrub up. Quite literally. When DID he find the time to shine all of that armour?
Enjoying the feel of newly cleaned dress, shoes, and hair, not to mention a full stomach, Angela stretched as she stood up from the table. It almost seemed a shame to ruin the temporary peaceful pall the extra sleep had settled over her by finding the annoying Fairy again. Being able to wake up without the annoying preachy voice yelling in her ear had been a rare treat. She allowed herself a wicked grin at that. She doubted that Koren would have been able to get any sleep with the Fairy in his presence. It might just be HIS turn to have rings under his eyes and bed hair.
Fortunately this time the innkeeper hadn't recognised the bedraggled travellers that had stumbled in half-dead the night before, or was keeping quiet about it until he could go and modify his sign to say 'Princess Angela stayed here TWICE', so there didn't look to be anything much keeping them from heading to Altena right now. He'd even been so nice to let them have their usual last minute 'strategy council' in private. By that, it usually meant that Duran would state the obvious, the Fairy would give them a plan full of holes, Hawk would comment on Angela's waistline, and she'd throw spells at him until the innkeeper would throw them out, at which point they'd wind up doing whatever the thief suggested while the Fairy complained that HER plan was perfectly okay. Of course, without the Fairy here, this delicate balance had been terribly upset.
"We should plan what we're going to do," Duran said, in an unusual instance of foresight, as opposed to the usual bust-in-now-think-what-to-do-later scenario the Knight seemed to favour. He really HAD been up most of the night thinking about it. "The Red Wizard will probably want to exchange the Fairy for the Sword, and will set up the meeting so that we HAVE to lose one or the other."
"He could have at least offered to buy it," Hawk mumbled. "I'd bet the Mana Sword would go for a SONG on the Black Market."
"Hawk!"
"What?! Don't deny that you also think that the Fairy for the Sword is hardly a fair exchange!"
Glancing at the thief, looking worried at even the suggestion, Duran continued regardless, "-But maybe if there was some sort of back way into the Palace, we could get Flammie to drop us there and we could snatch the Fairy back first?" He suggested hopefully.
Clearing her throat, the Princess stepped up. She really hated having to ruin a plan that the Forcenan had clearly spent a great deal of time thinking up. She had long given up on judging her intended future boyfriend on the same scales of mental acuity as everyone else. "Altena has magical wards set up protecting it from aerial attack. And the only way onto the Palace Grounds by foot is through the entrance," she informed them, grateful that being Princess had at least made her privy to such information, even if she didn't bother to memorise ALL of it. At least if a battle with Koren was forthcoming, it was going to be on home turf. Koren's home turf, too, she admitted begrudgingly, but she liked to think that as Princess she knew the palace a little better than he did.
"Oh," was all the disappointed Knight had to say. "So.... we have to go through the snow fields again?"
"Flammie ought to be able to drop us off by the gates," she assured him, catching Hawk giving a happy sigh of relief out of the corner of her eye when it was realised that the long trek through the snow wouldn't be necessary. "But aside from that we'll have to take a normal route to the Palace."
"Sounds simple enough," the Knight commented.
"Don't forget that there's the army to contend with," she muttered. "Even if there a no-kill mandate at the moment, I'm sure Koren would prefer to use the army to capture us and just take the Sword without having to make any sort of deal." Unless he grew tired of the Fairy and just gave her back to them anyway. At which point he'd probably just kill all of them. As much faith she had developed in her magic, she didn't want to take on the entire Altenan army if she could help it.
"So we need a way to get through Altena to the Palace without having to fight the entire army," Duran reasoned. Their task seemed to become more complicated by the second.
"Ah, just leave that one to me," Hawk drawled from where he was draped over his seat, flashing them a quick smile.
Raising an eyebrow, the Princess decided not to ask. It was generally a good idea not to question the thief's methods too deeply, and he hadn't messed up yet, so....
Nodding, Duran said, "In that case, when we do get there, we can always try and fight Koren over it. I'm sure by now we could win."
Angela was beginning to doubt that, even with all of the Elementals and the Goddess herself behind them. Koren was clearly getting a whole lot of power from SOMEWHERE, her guess being the Underworld, though how the wizard had achieved THAT was anyone's guess. Still, he was still human, right? With all three of them, they might stand a chance. "Besides," she added half-heartedly, "I doubt that Koren would just hand the Fairy back over anyway." After all, what were the chances of the Red Wizard playing fair now?
Seemingly decided on this course of action, the Knight was nodding to himself. "There's no other way then. We bust in, fight Koren, grab the Fairy, and bust out!" Duran must have been a little worried himself, if he was using 'fight' instead of 'kill' when referring to Koren, but naturally refused to be cowed and was insistent as usual on stubbornly striding towards his own death. "We shouldn't waste anymore time! Let's go call Flamme."
Nearly falling out of their seats in their effort to catch up with the Knight before he wound up storming Altena Palace all by himself, Angela pausing only to grab her crystal cane, the Delvar and Ranger hurried after him, Hawk belatedly realising he still had possession of the drum, and made to call Flammie.
As the drum rang out, Angela grimaced. "You idiot! Don't call her here! There are people everywhere! You'll draw a crowd!"
"So? I'm freezing! Besides, how could I pass up the chance to have this many people see me with such a beautiful woman? Oh, and the Mana Knight himself," Hawk added on as an afterthought. "It'll score me so much credibility!"
Angela snorted as the white dragon swiftly dove from the sky - from the snow Flammie was shaking from her feathers, it seemed that she hadn't wandered far at all, taking the Knight's advice to heart, though how the young dragon seemed to understand them was anyone's guess. Seemed to understand them well enough to figure out being insulted when her gender was mistaken, and to further understand Hawk's affectations. It was probably another Mana thing.
Hurriedly clambering on to her back and ignoring the surprised cries of the various townspeople, they urged Flammie to take to the sky. The poor populace of Snow City Elrand probably thought they were under attack. Though how anyone could be afraid of anything so cute was hard to comprehend. Either way, the white dragon was quick to take off again, skimming playfully over the snow-covered treetops.
The Sub-Zero Snowfields were much prettier when you weren't actually walking through them, Angela noted absently. The trip was really too short to fully appreciate it, though. Flammie, as though sensing the magical defenses that started right at Altena's Gates and spanned a considerable distance, dropped them off outside the looming gates to Altena and left quickly.
The Princess was confronted with mixed feelings, staring at those massive gates. Theoretically, she ought to like the sight of them - being future ruler of Altena and all - but over time she had been developing a profound dislike for the things. Probably started right about that time she wound up outside of them, fleeing for her life into the Snowfields with nothing more than the clothes on her back and her accessory cane. The things were just downright gaudy, too. Some ancient architect really had lousy taste - the Gates were ridiculously ornate, even for Altenan livery.
"What the-? It's iced over!" Duran exclaimed, pushing on the gates in frustration, tiny crystals of snow and ice shaking off it as he pushed his weight against it.
"Angie? What kind of mechanisms do these Gates use?" Hawk asked, not bothering to waste his energy trying to open them, and clearly unwilling to touch anything that was literally covered in ice.
Frowning, she replied, "Locked by ice magic. I suppose that Koren must have planned on making us wait out here before he opened it. Maybe even planned an ambush."
Duran cursed, rubbing his hands together to drive away the cold. Having expected quick passage into the magically warmed Altena, not even Hawk had gone to the trouble of being properly prepared for the weather. "We have to wait for him to open it?! He could leave us out here for hours!"
Grinning, the Delvar pushed a stray strand of lavender hair from her face. "Ah, but Koren has clearly forgotten that I can do magic far beyond that of his regular army flunkies now!" Surely the Knight would praise her for THIS. "I'll just melt the barricade, and we can let ourselves in! A decent-sized fireball should do it!"
"If only all girls I met were as resourceful as you, Angie," Hawk murmured, rubbing his arms to keep the feeling in them.
The Princess briefly contemplated shoving some snow down his pants for no particular reason, and wondering if even that would be enough to shut the blasted thief up.
"Please just do it, Princess, we can't stand out here all day!" Duran begged, hopping from foot to foot to keep warm.
"Fine, fine!" Angela grumbled, prepping the fire spell to melt the icy barricade. After all the adventures they had been going through, and the Knight was still calling her 'Princess'? While he's at it, why not Your Highness? Granted, he probably felt obliged to refer to her in a more formal manner because he was just a knight, and well, let's be honest, she was divine royalty, but Hawk, HAWK of all people, a lowly thief for Goddess's sake, called her 'Angie'! If he could do it, why couldn't Duran? She wasn't going to get anywhere with him if he wasn't willing to call her by at least a nickname!
The thief in question had moved a good distance away, for some reason. Looking at him in puzzlement, she realised why as Duran flapped his arms in a panic. "Princess, do you really need a fireball THAT big?"
Ooops. In her irritation she'd lost track of the spell. Wow, Jose would be proud of this one.... but what was she going to do with it?
Seconds later, nothing was remaining of the icy barricade. And not much of the gates, either.
Coughing nonchalantly, the Princess strode through the charred and smoking remains of the Gates as though it had been her intention all along. It was amazing what a little sleep and food could do to one's magic. "Didn't like those Gates anyway."
She then stopped, and blinked, when she realised that a good portion of the army was standing not too far beyond the Gates, and were now staring at her in something of a shocked surprise. Oh yeah.... she'd forgotten about that. "Hawk," she hissed, "Whatever your plan was, I'd put it into action NOW!"
"Coming, coming. A little help from Jinn, Angie?" Hawk asked with a grin as the army stood there - apparently none of them had quite figured out what to do yet. Maybe in her prolonged absence, they had all forgotten how to recognise their Princess. Or more likely, all of Altena's sorceresses were staring at Duran's handsome visage, blinded by his good looks. Angela wondered briefly if the all-female Amazoness army of Rolante ever encountered this kind of problem. It was weakness that could eventually be exploited should their enemies discover it.
Not bothering to ask why, Angela set about summoning a wind as Hawk laid a hand on the ground, and started murmuring under his breath as a warm glow spread out from beneath his fingertips. Slowly, breaking and uncurling from the ground at an impossibly fast rate, a bed of familiar flowers began to grow and blossom before their very eyes, throwing fine grains of pollen into the air. "Sleep Flower!" Hawk announced with a flourish. Eyes widening in realisation, Angela reinforced Jinn's breeze to spread the cloud of fragrant pollen throughout Altena. After a moment of surprised cries, and a few hasty counter-spells that were cast too late, the Altenan soldiers' eyes began to droop, and they quickly fell to the ground in unconsciousness; a peacefully sleeping horde.
Silence fell as the pollen made its way through the city. It had worked just like it had at Rolante. Hawk seemed very pleased with himself. "Taken right out of Navarre's book."
Angela tried to hide her annoyance at her companion's success. She kept forgetting that the Ranger had acquired both Luna's and Dryad's magic, and his little stunt had clearly upstaged her fireball! Duran was slapping him on the back and congratulating him on his brilliant strategy, which theoretically, she fumed, was Don Perigon's in the first place, and didn't she deserve the same praise for using Jinn to spread the pollen throughout the city?!
Trying to distract herself from what she refused to admit was jealousy of the desert rat's natural skill for magic, she strode determinedly through the now-quiet streets of her once-home, occasionally nonchalantly stepping over the odd unconscious guard. Goddess, she'd missed Altena.... nearly everything was as she remembered it. That was a little disconcerting, she liked to think that Altena would be a little more affected by the disappearance of their Princess..... even if that Princess couldn't use magic.... and the Queen didn't seem to be set to die anytime soon..... Unless Koren killed her first. Surely it was worth at least one riot, though!
"Do you think they're all asleep?" Duran asked, stopping to nudge a sleeping witch with his toe. She didn't respond.
Hawk shrugged. "Most of the regular army should be. If the Dark Knight is working with Koren, though, we should be careful - he was at Rolante, and he might have developed a resistance to the flower like we did. And I don't know how well it would work against someone like Koren, either."
"Neat."
"So, this is Altena, huh?" the Navarrian commented with a low whistle, hands behind his head and he strode leisurely alongside the Princess. "Nice. Looks rich."
She glared at the thief from the corner of her eye. "No stealing here, or I'll have you put to death faster than a rabite in a field of Beastmen."
"Oh, so it's okay to steal from other Kingdoms then?"
"I have to insist you refrain from it in Forcena too," Duran injected hastily, before adding, "Not that I really think you should steal at all."
At least the Fairy wasn't here. This discussion would probably be prolonged painfully if she was. Did they REALLY want to rescue her? "As far as I see it, Rolante and Wendel are fair game!"
"Ah yes, I'm going to steal from poor village people and a fortress on the world's tallest mountain," he retorted dryly.
"Since when did you develop honour?"
"It's not honour! Poor village people have nothing to steal!"
"Princess, is this the Palace?" Duran asked. Angela raised an eyebrow, trying to restrain the urge to reply 'Duh'. If the majestic building that was probably the same size as the town itself wasn't the Palace, what did the Knight think it was? The shopping district?
"Sure is," she answered instead, striding confidently up past numerous sleeping sentries. Hopefully Dryad's magic would last as long as their business took, otherwise getting out might be a problem. They hadn't really thought too deeply about that part. It was nice to think that they might have one-up on Koren in terms of strategy, though, even with the slight, erm, handicap on their team. If the Wizard was going to fight dirty, they would too!
Fortunately, the interior of the palace was also inhabited only by sleeping guards. Striding confidently through the hallways, the Princess led her comrades through her home towards the throne room, where Koren was inevitably standing next to her mother. Dear Goddess, she'd missed this place. It was so odd to feel such danger in such familiar surroundings. Koren would suffer for doing this to her childhood home!
Well, it was Koren's childhood home, too, for the most part. But then, HE wasn't the one who'd been illegitimately thrown into exile by his own mother, either!
So caught up in her internal ranting, she almost didn't realise they'd reached the throne room until she found her feet stopping of their own accord, apparently having at some point gone into automatic and hoping that the Knight and Ranger didn't fall behind. "This is it," she announced needlessly.
"Let's not be rude by keeping them waiting," Hawk said with a grin, gesturing. "I think the Mana Knight should go first, don't you?"
Flashing something of a grin himself, Duran kicked open the doors with his usual flair, Angela wincing slightly at the bang. This WAS her home, didn't Duran at least consider he was damaging furniture when he went for such Dramatic Entries?
Koren coolly turned and regarded them - he was standing there in front of the throne as expected, and didn't seem the slightest bit surprised to see them. Ah, damn it. It probably was a bit much to hope that Hawk's spell had put him under too. Given their recent track record, that simply would have been too easy. It looked like this had the potential to escalate into battle after all.
Stepping up quietly beside the infamous Red Wizard was the Darkshine Knight, as well, Angela gauged, trying as quickly as possible to take in everything in the room. If there was going to be a battle, she didn't want any surprises. She felt her eyes narrow of their own accord when she spotted her mother, apparently either sleeping or unconscious on the throne. Lazy woman! Her own General was taking their nation over right under her nose, and she couldn't even do anything about it!
"So, you've arrived at last," Koren commented smoothly; though the 'at last' seemed a little more stressed than Angela had expected. She had to suppress the urge to snigger. Koren did look a little more tired than usual. Figures the Fairy kept him up with her babbling all night.
"Hand over the Fairy! Where is she?!" Duran demanded.
The Wizard of the Red Lotus raised a delicate eyebrow at that. "Show me the Sword first."
Reluctantly, the Forcenan held up the Mana Sword to be seen. They really didn't want to have to do a swap if they could help it, but until the Fairy was safe, with the Darkshine Knight there they couldn't really risk an ambush. The Sword at least could be retrieved in battle. The Fairy couldn't. And Koren was probably LOOKING for an excuse to end the miserable insect's existence, too.
"Here it is. Now you release the Fairy!"
Slowly, surely just for the sake of antagonizing them, the blonde removed the small crystal sphere from his scarlet cloak and held it in his fingertips. It looked somewhat as though the Fairy was yabbering on and she promptly started banging on the side of the globe as she saw them. They couldn't hear anything, though. Koren must have finally grown tired of the racket and simply cast a small silencing spell on the orb, Angela realised. Silence magic was something she was definitely going to have to try and learn.
"Put the Sword on the ground and back away ten paces from it," he ordered.
Duran's mask of indignation was a little too obvious. After all, it was hard to believe under such an exchange that the Red Wizard would keep his word. "No! Put down the Fairy first!"
Koren's expression flickered to boredom. "Put down the Sword and back away, or your precious Fairy dies." Magic sparked around his fist threateningly.
Gritting his teeth, Duran stepped forward and placed the Mana Sword carefully on the ground. Looking as though his heart was breaking as he left it - the man was far too attached to the Sword for his own good, though who could really blame him after all the trouble they'd gone through to get the damn thing - he carefully backed ten paces away, until he was standing alongside the Delvar and Ranger.
With the Darkshine Knight watching them carefully, Koren swiftly approached the Mana Sword laying on the ground. Seeing the Forcenan tense up, he warned, "Move an inch, and I crush the orb." Not that at this distance they'd really have time to ambush him successfully , anyway. Though Angela was finding a hard time controlling herself from lashing out at the man she'd wanted to kill for a very long time when he was standing there in plain view, within easy reach of a Dark Force spell.
Grinning triumphantly, the Wizard grasped the hilt, though his expression changed to one of surprise when he found he could barely lift it. He let out a hiss through his teeth another moment later when it appeared - the Delvar could scarce believe her eyes - as though the hilt itself was burning him! The Darkshine Knight took a step forward, reminding them not to take advantage Koren's vulnerable state.
As the dawning realisation set in, Angela couldn't help but comment smugly, "Doesn't belong to you, does it?"
Glaring daggers at her, he murmured a spell under his breath. Suddenly, the Sword seemed to dull, then readjust its glow to something.... different, something far more sinister than the shine it had acquired when Duran had grasped its hilt. "Dispelled it," she cursed under her breath. It seemed that the Wizard was capable of even more dark magics than she had originally expected.
Triumphant smirk settling in place once again, the Wizard held the Sword high, admiring it. "Amazing. The Emperor will be pleased indeed. This is truly the Mana Sword! It's power! With it, he is capable of anything!"
Duran seemed about ready to explode, seeing the coveted Mana Sword sitting in his worst enemy's hands, own hand poised on the hilt of his regular broadsword. "We held up our end of the bargain! Now let the Fairy go. Safely," he ordered.
The Red Wizard seemed amused. "You are far too naive, boy. Did you honestly believe that I would willingly let the Goddess's little puppet go free after I acquired the Mana Sword? I think that now is the time where...." he trailed off, lifting his left hand, and seeming most puzzled to discover it was empty.
"Looking for this?" Hawk commented, suddenly appearing in the corner of the Delvar's sight, holding a small crystal globe. Angela blinked. When had he MOVED?
"What?! How-?!" It was a rare thing to see the normally collected Wizard at such at loss. Angela was enjoying it immensely. By the grin on Hawk's face, he was enjoying it too.
"Surprise!"
Koren was not similarly impressed by this turn of events. "This was not part of the plan," he hissed.
"Well, it wouldn't have been much of a surprise if it was." Hawk expertly cracked open the small orb encasing the Fairy, who wasted not a second in rushing to the shoulder of her beloved Mana Knight.
"Arrogant fool!" he muttered, expression neutral even as his eyes were lighting with sparks of anger. He formed and threw a powerful fireball directly at the Navarrian in one swift move.
Angela let out a strangled cry at the fierce display of offensive magic. "Hawk!"
Koren blinked. Hawk was standing several metres away, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, still looking slightly amazed at being alive. The ground was molten where the thief had been standing previously, testament to the power and accuracy of the spell. Koren looked mildly shocked. "I..... missed?"
"Must be all the practice from dodging Angela's spells all the time," the Fairy sniggered from her vantage point. When the Red Wizard sent a cold glare in her direction, she let out a tiny 'eep!' and disappeared hurriedly into the Knight's head like the coward she was.
"Rotten cheating thief!" he spat.
Hawk rolled his eyes. "Look who's talking."
Re-composing himself, the General of the Altenan army drew his cloak around himself more tightly, firmly settling the Mana Sword onto his belt at his side. Gesturing briefly to the Darkshine Knight, he addressed them one last time. "It is no matter. I have what we came here for. I have no more time for the likes of you." With that, he strolled into the shadows, vanishing from sight as he did so. After a lingering glance at the Mana Knight, the Darkshine Knight followed, leaving the three heroes and their recovered Fairy alone in a suddenly oppressively large throne room.
The instant they were gone, the Delvar and Knight wheeled on the thief.
"Good work, Hawk," Duran commented, though he seemed distracted. "I thought we were going to lose the Fairy too for a second there."
Hawk just shrugged it off nonchalantly. "All in a day's work."
"Why didn't you steal the Mana Sword back while you were at it?!" Angela demanded.
"Give me a break, Angie! That thing's heavy! You saw how Koren couldn't even lift it until he'd dispelled Duran's bond with it."
"Well, maybe," she conceded begrudgingly. That was TWICE in one day the thief had upstaged her! And she didn't even get to take her potshot at the Red Wizard either! It had been quite some time since she'd been able to reflect on a day and actually say it had been a good one.
"Angela?" A voice asked in bewilderment from behind them. Whirling in surprise, the trio spotted the Queen of Reason, standing up from her throne, looking very confused at the two strangers situated with her daughter in the middle of the empty throne room.
In all of the commotion, they'd almost forgotten that Queen Valda of Altena was even there.
"Mother....," Angela began, trailing off. Again, she found herself confronted with a situation she'd been playing out in her head for weeks - or was it months? - and suddenly having no clue how she was supposed to react.
Meanwhile, the esteemed Queen of Reason seemed to be regarding her throne room in something of a daze, eyes drifting from a the molten patch of floor, to a Forcenan Knight, to a now clearly battle-hardened daughter and.... to a ragamuffin from Navarre? Not to mention, the throne room was rarely empty of both her General and advisors. Usually there was at least a servant nearby!
"I feel as though I've been missing a great deal. If you would care to inform me of what exactly is going on.....," she suggested, though there was no doubt in the minds of those present that it was an order. Duran had already instinctively gone into 'dealing with royalty' mode, having dropped respectfully to one knee. Hawk, as usual, didn't seem too bothered with formalities, as the Delvar caught him eying off some of the smaller decorations in the throne room, only settling his eyes forward with a pronounced cough and threatening glare from the resident Princess. And even then, she was pretty sure he was trying to evaluate the street value of her mother's crown.
Well, now was the difficult means of summarizing what was happening. What could one say to quite possibly one of the most powerful magicians in the world without setting them off? 'Oh yes, let's see, don't you remember? You and Koren were planning to sacrifice your magic-less daughter who ran off into exile, wound up on some crazy quest just so she could get some magic, on which she met up with the Mana Knight and an exiled thief from Navarre, with whom she stopped your Kingdom's invasion of Forcena, liberated Rolante from Navarre and there was the issue of all those Mana Stones to protect too, all the while being dogged by a slightly deranged High Priest's granddaughter. And did she forget to mention that they just came back from the Mana Holyland? Oh, and who could forget that your magic- less daughter swore revenge on your beloved General and now has enough magic to blow half the army out of the water? Or the fact that this beloved General was in fact just using Altena's resources to serve some Underworld Power and had stolen the mother of all magical artifacts, the Mana Sword itself, for undoubtedly nefarious purposes?'
She didn't think she'd take it too well. Regardless, she relayed the basic facts of the story, though made a point of cutting out some of the editorials.
When the abbreviated tale was finished, a dangerously neutral expression seemed to remain on her mother's face. "I see," Queen Valda said with narrowed eyes. Angela had to restrain herself from shifting under the scrutinizing gaze. Well, she had never really expected her mother to welcome her back with a big hug and warm words, even if she did have magic now. And it certainly didn't put one in a good mood to hear that their cherished General was in fact, a traitor of sorts. "If all of this is indeed true, then I suppose an apology is in order. It appears you've journeyed far as well, Sir Mana Knight and....," she seemed uncertain how exactly to address Hawk, but eventually settled for a slightly derisive, "....Navarrian Ambassador." The sarcasm was clearly not wasted on Hawk, who executed a mocking bow. "I shall issue orders immediately to lift the death warrant on your head, my daughter," she said, voice and eyes softening slightly as she once again regarded her exiled offspring. Was that pride there? No, the Princess had to be imagining things. Still, was it all really possible that all of that... had just been some sort of spell of Koren's, like what had been used on the Navarrian Thieves' entire Guild? It certainly SEEMED like her mother had absolutely no recollection, or at least very little, of what had been going on in the past few months. How long ago had it been that her mother had really been her mother then? And was she going to be willing to forgive her, even if she was under a spell?! This was too confusing!
"Oh, and you might want to have someone fix the Gates. I.... that is, we.... kind of damaged them a little on the way in. And most of Altena outside of the Palace should probably be woken up some time," Angela added hastily.
"Oh, the Gates hardly matter. Ugly things, really. I've been wanting to tear them down for years. This will give me an excuse," Queen Valda commented absently. Duran coughed from where he was kneeling, none too keen on informing her that Angela had already taken quite a bit more liberty than she'd divulged on that issue.
Well, it went better than expected, anyhow. No doubt they'd have to have a lengthier discussion later, but all in all the Queen seemed to be disturbingly accepting of the fact that it appeared to all present that she'd been under some sort of spell for quite some time. Fortunately, this was where Hawk was good at breaking eerily calm waters.
"All that being said, Your Highness, I don't suppose that such a fine woman yourself would be free to discuss.... international relations over drinks this evening?" Hawk said charmingly, throwing in a wink for good measure.
Queen Valda reacted before Angela even had the chance. "Ice Smash!"
Long used to dodging this spell from his companion, Hawk shivered none-the- less at the frosty reply. "Jeez, Angie, your mother is scarier than you."
"Shut up, you worthless street trash! That's no way to regard royalty!" Angela announced, swinging her own cane towards the Navarrian's head, who sidestepped again neatly.
Waving a hand dismissively, the Queen suddenly looked very tired, though not tired enough to glare at the 'Navarrian Ambassador'. "I have heard enough for now. I will speak with you again later. I imagine you must be tired, also, so I shall arrange rooms for you to stay the night. SEPERATE rooms," she said with a slight inclination of the head, fixing her gaze on Hawk, then on her daughter's apparently starry-eyed gaze on the still- kneeling Knight. "I'll need to confirm this with all of my advisors, of course, so I recommend you don't think about leaving prematurely."
That was a little more like the cold-hearted mother she remembered. Angela sometimes wondered if the Queen kept Altena warm by draining all personal forms of warmth from her personality. With nothing more to say, Valda swept from the room off into a side corridor. A moment later, some fierce yelling echoed back to them. "GET UP OFF THE FLOOR, YOU INDOLENT ARISTOCRAT!" Hawk and Duran looked curiously at Angela.
She shrugged. "That's probably her latest consort. He generally gets the blame when she messes up."
The Knight and Ranger looked mildly disturbed. "It disturbs me that you label a 'mess-up' as something that results in the death of thousands," Hawk murmured.
"It disturbs ME how much the daughter takes after the mother," the Fairy muttered, finally fluttering from the safe confines of the Knight's head.
"So, what do we do now? I mean, we're stuck here for the time being, according to Her Highness Queen Valda's wishes, but once that's taken care of, what next?" Duran asked the Fairy, who was looking none the worse for wear despite her ordeal and, oh yes, LOSING THE MANA SWORD. So much for their plan.
As usual reading her thoughts, the Fairy replied, "Losing the Mana Sword to Koren is a terrible blow, but I'm afraid that this is no longer our largest problem."
This day just kept getting better and better. "Ungrateful gnat! You're not even going to thank us for saving your worthless hide before you bring MORE bad news?!"
"This is really serious, Angela!"
"What is it that could possibly be more serious than losing the Mana Sword?" Duran wondered.
"How could you have forgotten?! The seals on all of the Mana Stones have been broken! The God-Beasts are now loose, and will soon combine into one creature that will destroy the world!"
Oh, that.
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A little shorter (not to mention later) than usual, I'll endeavour to make it up! Really! Please review, and maybe I'll try and think up some new jokes in response. (Maybe.) Thanks for your patience.