EDIT: I made a mistake with the years... sorry! I changed it... Merilynn was from year 2541, not 2141 (as it previously said). But that is fixed now! Please let me know if I missed changing it in another chapter!
EDIT: As stated before (in case you're already passed that part by the time of the change), I made a huge mistake when describing magic... I switched internal and external magic. My excuse? The English translation absolutely fails at differenciating between them (calling them all 'magic'), so I had to take a stab based on what I knew about elves and humans. Anyway. I fixed that here and (hopefully) in all other chapters. Please let me know if I missed it somewhere!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Tales of games. They are owned by Namco.
--Test Subject--
Someone nudges me gently, but I feel a sting in my shoulder... did I bump something...? Dad's the one nudging me... I pull the covers over my head. "It's too up to be early..."
He's laughing... "Don't you mean 'too early to be up'?"
"What'd I say...?"
"'Too up to be early.' Come on, don't think I'm letting you sleep in! Breakfast is ready!" This is so comfortable, though... "...Chester, get up."
I scowl and push the covers off of myself. "All right, all right..." I yawn and then stand up. I'm tired... maybe breakfast will help. I follow my father downstairs, to the table in the main room, where everyone's already sitting. Dad and I take our seats and I look at our breakfast. Wow, this is a wide assortment of muffins! In the center of the table are all types of fruit-filled muffins for us to grab as we want. I grab a few different types and put them on the plate in front of me.
Hm... definitely not the best muffins I've had... Heh, at least they're better than melon bread!
"Lord Brambert, could you give me the recipe for this?" Mint asks.
"Of course. I'll write it down before you leave."
"Thank you!"
So Mint's going to be making muffins now... She's a good cook, so hopefully she'll make them better...
As we eat, Dad explains the plan to the girls.
"I apologize for the records," Brambert speaks up. "Will you be all right?"
"Yes. Thank you for everything, Lord Brambert!" Cless says, a kind smile on his face. We finish up breakfast and start backing up. Ami now has a sling to hold her hammer on her back... Huh, I wonder what Milard and Dhaos use as weapons... Milard's carrying the pack now.
I see Brambert give the recipe to Mint as we head to the door. "Take care, all of you."
"You take care, too, Lord Brambert!"
"Yeah, next time you see us, it'll be us from this time!" I tell him with a grin.
"Is that so... I'll be sure to welcome you, then!"
"Bye!" We wave and head out, back towards the port.
"So, we're going to Euclid, then?"
"Yeah. Arche, do you mind if we wait until we get there to visit a doctor?"
"I told you, Klarth-sensei, I'm fine! It was just words jumping around, right?"
"We should make sure..."
I notice Cless glance at me and I grin to assure him that I'm all right.
"What do you think Sardon wants to see us for?" questions Milard.
"Well, he said something about an experiment he wanted to show me... I wonder if it'll help us in our travels?"
"I don't know, with someone like Sardon doing the experiment, I'd be kinda scared!" Arche jokes, flying next to Dad on her broom; both of them are behind me, Cless, and Mint. "Are all Lesters like that?"
"How am I supposed to know? I've been cut off from most of my family!" Dad points out. He doesn't mention his father... I guess he'd rather not acknowledge him...
"Chester's your family now, though, right? He's not going to become a crazy researcher, too, is he?"
I spin around so I'm walking backwards. "Hey, I'm not interested in that experimenting stuff! You can leave me out of that loop!"
"Hmmm... I'll simply have to open your eyes to the wonders of researching, then," Dad says. "The pursuit of knowledge is a wonderful thing!"
"Great, I'll let you and any other siblings Ami and I get do that," I reply as I turn back to watch where I'm going.
"And then you shall be pulled in to the research!"
"Hey, don't make me a test subject!" Everyone laughs. Ah, there's the port... we're almost there! I pat my sister's head and start running; "Race ya there!"
"Hey! Onii-chan! Wait up!" I glance back to notice everyone except Dhaos and Suzu running now. Heh, I started something!
Arche zooms by me on her broom—"Hey! Arche, that's cheating!"
"You never said anything against it!" the witch calls back deviously. She reaches the port first, and I reach it second. Next is Ami, then Cless, then Mint, followed by Dad and Milard. As I open the wind pack, Dhaos and Suzu walk up calmly.
"Heehee, I won!"
"You cheated!" I argue with the witch as we board the ship.
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"Did not!"
"Did too—" Arche suddenly becomes blurry and everything around me fades into darkness—what's going on?! I see something now... a dark, stone room... where is this? It looks to be a bedroom of some sort... There's a large bed with a canopy on one side of the room with a wooden dresser and wooden desk across from it. There's a bookshelf at the end of the bed. The floor of the room is covered with clothes and dolls, and the girl sitting among them stares at them sadly. Hey, it's the thief girl...! She notices me and glances up at me with astonished eyes.
"Y-you! You're back again!"
"Hey... How exactly do I keep coming here?"
"Heehee, I don't know! You always appear and disappear so suddenly..."
"I wish I had some control over it... Anyway, I didn't catch your name last time."
"Oh right! I am Princess Merilynn of Fenrir!" The girl announces proudly.
"Of Fenrir? So that's one of the kingdoms of this time? What year is it...?" It seems unlikely that I would time travel like this, but... Fenrir was a kingdom from the past...
"2541," Merilynn answers. That's four thousand years before my time!
"Wow... I'm really far in the past!" Then again, I'm going to be traveling even further soon...
"I'd say! Have you traveled here to meet anyone...?"
"Like I said, I don't know why I'm here... but so far the only three times are the three you know about."
"Eh? Really?"
"Dad would probably love a chance to talk to the princess of one of the ancient kingdoms..." I mutter. Now if only I knew how to bring him back with me...
"Heh... being a princess isn't all it's made out to be..."
"Huh?" I stare down at the young girl. She's watching the floor... her eyes are puffed up, like she's been crying... I sigh and take a seat on the bed. "All right, what's wrong?"
"W-what do you mean?!"
"You've been crying. Did your father get mad at you for stealing? That's not very princess-like!"
"Oh shut up! What would you know?!"
"Probably more than a royal thief that likes bossing people around."
She jumps to her feet, glaring like she can shoot ice daggers at me with her eyes. "Shut up! You don't know anything! You can run around all you want, and do whatever you want! Not me—I'm trapped in here unless I sneak out! I want to be free!"
"So you steal from people to be free?"
"If that's what it takes to experience life, then yes!"
"You can experience it through other ways than stealing, you know," I tell her. "You were having fun with your friends last time, weren't you?"
"I have to sneak out to see them..." she mumbles. "Daddy won't let me see anyone... I'm lonely most of the time..."
Eh? "Why? Because you're a princess?"
"No... The doctors say I'm sick..."
"Sick? Is it contagious...?" Maybe she got me sick...
"No! No one around me ever gets sick!" Merilynn shoots. "I see the way you're looking—please don't leave me, too!"
"H-hey, I can't help whether I come here or not! I just have a lot to do... I can't afford to get sick!"
"I wish I was well... Hey, Chester, do you think there might be a cure for me in your time?"
"Huh?! Well I don't know... I don't know what you're sick with or what cures doctors have... but there probably is. Only a few things can't be cured nowadays..." I'm time traveling anyway, so... "Why don't I bring Mint to see you once things have settled down where I am? She's a healer, so she should be able to help you!"
"Really?!"
"Why not? We're time traveling anyway!"
"Yay! Thank you so much!" Merilynn cheers as she hugs me. Heh, even if she's a spoiled brat, she's just a little kid. She lets go. "I'll be waiting, so come as soon as you can!"
"Yeah, yeah... Year 2541, right?"
"Yep! Fenrir Castle, Friezkiel!"
Fenrir... I guess that'd be their deity. After all Fenrir did to me, I probably shouldn't help her princess... but Merilynn didn't do anything. Besides, I can't just leave her when she needs help so badly!
Everything goes blurry and I blink—I'm back on the ship! I'm in the bedroom on it... Milard's sitting on the bed next to me. "Chester-kun, are you all right?"
"I'm fine," I answer as I push the covers off of myself and sit up. "What happened?"
"You got sick again... Chester-kun, is this really the third time you've fainted? Why haven't you told us?"
Ack, Cless told them... he said he would if it happened again... "It's probably just from all of the energy I've been using."
"It can't be just that! Your body seems to be freezing every time, and you become as pale as a ghost! You can't tell us that it's nothing!" Milard argues. "Everyone's really worried about you... You're going to see the doctor as soon as we arrive in town."
"I don't need to see a doctor!"
"Yes you do! This is getting dangerous... you could die again!"
"I feel fine, though!"
"And what will you do if you faint when we're fighting the gods?"
Ack, she has a point... "Fine, I'll go in for a checkup! Let's get to Euclid first, though!"
"All right... Can you stand?"
I push myself up out of bed to show her that I can. My bow and arrows are by the door... I set them on my back and then walk up above deck, with Milard following me. Back out in the open, the sea breeze blows against me and I notice that we're docking in Venezia. Noticing me, Ami and Suzu rush over.
"Onii-chan! How are you feeling?"
"Great! Let's hurry to Euclid, okay?"
"Okay!"
The rest of the group walks over once the ship's fully docked, and we walk off of it. I store it in the wing pack.
"Now then, we need to find a doctor..." Dad mutters.
"Not until we get to Euclid!" I correct him.
"Chester, you need to see a doctor now."
"Klarth..." Milard puts a hand on him to calm him down, and Dad turns to stare at her. "He's agreed to see a doctor, but not until we get to Euclid."
"Well, at least you agreed..." my father mumbles to me. "Suzu, do you mind warping us to Euclid?"
Huh?! Hey wait a minute! "Dad!"
"All right." The ninja begins concentrating on her skill... "Shadow Storm!" Leaves swirl around us, and we teleport from Venezia to Euclid in a matter of seconds. So much for stalling... Why do I have to have a smart father?
We're next to Sardon's house... "Let's ask him where a doctor is," Dad suggests as he knocks on the door.
"NO WAIT STOP!" Sardon's voice yells before there's a loud bang on the door and it falls down at our feet. Erm...
The thing that knocked it down is a little creature... he's so small, he could probably fit in Dad's hat! Hey wait, I've seen this thing before... It was on the Viva! Tales of! It's a small, blue creature that looks sorta like a rabbit, only with a more human-like face. It has long ears that are white at the end, and its face is mostly white. Around its stomach is a golden ring... "Hello!" the creature greets with a high-pitched, girly voice. "You must be guests!"
"MIEU!" Sardon yells, storming up behind the creature. "You broke down the door!"
"I-I'm sorry, Master! I was trying to answer it..."
"What is this?" Dad asks as he squats down, staring at the creature.
"Ah! This is my artificial summon spirit! His name's Mieu! I have a pact ring for him, too... I left that downstairs, hold on!"
"Wait," Dad says as he grabs Sardon's arm. "Before that, we have something more urgent... We need to know where we can find a doctor."
"Ehhhh? Are you sick, Klarth-san?!"
"I'm not, but Chester is and Arche might be."
"I'm not sick!" I protest.
"L-let's hurry then! We have to see Cathy right away—she's a doctor! She's at her office—come on, now!" Sardon hurries past us, ignoring the broken door. He leads us through the town, I guess towards the doctor's office...
Before long, he leads us into a white building. This is definitely a doctor's office... There's a counter up front with two secretaries and a waiting area to the left, where many people are sitting quietly; there are only four open chairs. Sardon storms up to the front counter. "We need to see Cathy!"
"Oh, hello Sardon," one of the secretaries greets, her hazel eyes watching him with amusement. "What do you need?"
"These people need to see Cathy quickly!"
"Sorry, but they'll have to wait just like everyone else."
"These people are heroes! They don't have time to wait! They need to hurry to save Aselia!"
The blonde secretary behind the one talking to us laughs. "Is this another one of your fantasies, Sardon? I'm sorry if the rest of you are caught up in his delusions..."
"THIS IS NOT A DELUSION! They're from the year 6548!"
"Here, could you fill this out for us and put the names of the patients on this?" The brunette secretary—the one in the front—asks us as she passes us a few sheets of paper. Dad takes the—whoa, is that a feather pen?! Wow, we're definitely in the past! I watch as Dad writes mine and Arche's names down on the last sheet and then starts to fill out the others. Let's see... ah, this looks to be one of those patient record things... where they ask you everything...
"Why can't se see Cathy now?!" demands Sardon.
"She's busy. She has other patients, you know."
"But—"
"It's all right," Cless interrupts the scientist. "Thank you, Sardon-san, but we'll wait. Chester, Arche, why don't you two sit down?"
I throw a glare at Cless, but I sit down anyway. It's too late to try arguing... Arche sits down in one of the empty seats next to me, and Ami in the other. Mint takes the last empty seat, which is across from us, while everyone else stands. One of the secretaries calls a patient back, opening up two more seats—Milard sits down, and Dad sits next to her, finished filling out forms. We wait in silence...
I glance around the room. There are pictures hanging on the wall, a few of them with words about health... Geez, even in the past doctor's offices were like this, just with older materials! Arche squirms a little in her seat next to me, her face red. "Arche? Are you feeling sick or something?" I whisper, not wanting to break the odd silence.
"N-no!" She stares at her hands. What's she so nervous about...? "These posters are funny, don't'cha think?"
"Huh? Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm perfectly fine!"
"Okay..." Sheesh, she's so strange... "I don't see what the point of you coming here is. I don't think even a doctor would be able to cure you!"
"Hey! What do you mean by that?!"
"Oh nothing!" I grin. Heh, it's so fun picking on her!
"Jerk!"
"Ditz!"
"Sardon," one of the secretaries calls out, "Cathy wants to see you."
"All right!" the young man cheers. "I told you! I'll be right back!" He opens the door to the back and rushes through. "Hey, Cathy!"
The rest of us continue waiting in silence. Well, hopefully this'll be quick and they'll find out that I'm not sick... It's taking a while for them to call us, though. I hope we don't have to wait here too long...
"Arche and Chester?" One of the secretaries says. "Cathy's ready to see you." Our group stirs and we follow her to the back. Huh, there's only two rooms... There's not even a hallway. The waiting room leads directly to the doctor's office, where Cathy's saying goodbye to her previous patient. Sardon's also standing in here. There are three chairs—one for the doctor, one for the patient, and one for a guest. This room has a lot less than what I'm used to in a doctor's office... There's a closed door on the right side of the room.
"Hello," Cathy greets us as the other patient leaves. "I'm very sorry for the wait..."
"No, it's fine," Mint assures the woman.
"Will you two sit down?" the doctor asks me and Arche, and we each take a seat. "Sardon said you were sick, but no more than that... Did something happen, or is it a common disease?"
"For Arche, we think it might be a curse if anything. For Chester, we're not sure..." Dad goes on to explain first the curse placed on the book Arche read, then about me fainting.
"A curse..." mutters the doctor as she thinks. "We'll need a blood sample from Arche, then. We might as well get one from you, Chester, while we're at it... just in case." She pulls a small knife out of a halter I hadn't noticed before on her apron. "Can I see your non-dominate hand?" she asks Arche, who nervously holds out her left hand. Cathy takes it in her hand and uses the knife to prick Arche's finger. She lets a few drops of blood drip into a container, which she hands to her husband along with the knife. The doctor then wraps Arche's finger up with a small cloth.
"I'll be right back!" Sardon says as his wife begins cleaning the knife. He walks through the door leading further back.
"Where's he going?" I question.
"Sardon helps me here by doing magic blood tests for curses... Most curses can be found in the blood, and he's able to recognize them. If they're not very strong, we can use a dispel or something to get rid of them," Cathy explains, her voice soft. Once she's finished cleaning off the knife, she walks over to me. "Your turn now."
I hold out my left hand and wait patiently as she pricks my finger. She places the knife down and picks up a container, which some of my blood drips into. She finishes and begins wrapping up my finger; Sardon re-enters the room. "Cathy! I don't recognize the curse!" the researcher whines.
"So there is a curse on Arche, then?" questions Cless.
"No doubt about it! It's not a normal one, though... It combines elements of other curses. Whoever made this must've been a curse-mastermind!"
"I should hope there is no such person..." mutters Sardon's wife.
"It's surprisingly strong for such an odd one! Well, there's a strong visual component of it, so either something will happen to your vision or looking at something will set it off." Sardon exchanges the container with Arche's blood for the one with mine. "Be back again! Wait for me!" He returns to the other room.
"So I'm cursed..." mutters Arche.
"Don't worry, Arche-chan, we'll find a way to remove the curse!" Mint assures her best friend.
Cathy puts her hand to my forehead next. "It's not hot..."
"I tried that after he fainted once," Dad speaks up. "Instead of being hot, his head was as cold as ice."
"That's strange..." She takes my right hand and checks my pulse next. "Pulse is normal..." She begins concentrating, a soft magic flowing from her body to engulf mine. What is this?! After a moment, it disappears. "There's definitely something strange going on with your body..."
That's not what I wanted to hear...
"Chester..."
"He died recently, and we brought him back with a resurrection spell," Mint offers. "Do you think that's the cause?"
"I'm afraid I don't know... I've never seen someone who's been brought back from the dead or the effects it has on the body."
"CATHY!" Sardon yells as he throws open the door and rushes in. "Cathy! L-look at this!" Sardon hands a sheet of paper to his wife. He's very distressed... that's a bad sign...
"What is it?" Dad asks, worry in his voice and eyes.
"I-I've never seen anything this strong!" Sardon exclaims. "From the looks of it in that sample, I'm willing to bet that the magic's that strong in the rest of his body!"
"What exactly is it...?" Dad dares to ask.
"That's the oddest thing... You're a human, right?"
"Yeah. Why?" I'm a little nervous... what'd he find?
"This isn't a normal curse... It acts completely different from all types of magic... It's not like anything I've ever seen!"
"So then what's wrong with me? What's going on?!"
"The magic in your blood isn't like any other magic type!"
"I don't understand that at all!"
"There are multiple types of magic," Dad explains. "There's magic of the world, the mana that flows from Yggdrasil and keeps everything alive... Elves are able to manipulate that to conjure up their offensive spells, which usually use the elements of the world around them. I also draw on that magic in a way—the summon spirits that I use each have their own individual mana that's strong enough to change the world around them. Then there's internal magic... that's what clerics like Mint draw on to heal people. They use power inside themselves and transfer it to others, thus healing them. Next are the skills like you and Cless use—those take knowledge combined with raw power, similar to the mana clerics use; however, by focusing on something specific, such as your arrows, you can transform it into useful skills to help you in battle. Finally, there are curses and buffs—they're two sides of the same gal; curses work to cause ruin in the body, while buffs work to aid the body. As Cathy said, most curses flow in the bloodstream, though others, such as blind, focus on one specific area... the latter are easier to get rid of. Curses and buffs are more like Milard's runes—they draw on magic from the world, usually using ancient, magical symbols. They're also weaker than the other types of magic because they have a set amount of magic put into them, magic that wears off over time. Therefore, while it can be difficult, most curses will heal with time. As far as we know, those are the only types of magic."
"Right!" Sardon agrees. "But the magic in your blood isn't like any of those! It's a new type! ...You'd make the perfect research experiment! Cathy, can I keep him?!"
"NO!" I yell. Geez... These researchers are scary!
"Sardon, he has a world to save..."
"Oh right! We need to figure out what these curses are! Or... curse and other thingy."
"Until we find out exactly what they are, we won't know how to cure them..." Cathy mumbles. "We'll try treating Arche's like a complex blind... Even if it's not, the medicine won't hurt her." The doctor opens a cabinet, where it seems all of her medicines are kept, and she searches for one. After a minute, she finds it and pulls it out, handing it to the half elf. "Take two pills every day for a week. After that, I'd like to see you again to see if the curse has worn off. Go ahead and take the first two now."
"All right!" Arche agrees as she opens the bottle and dumps two pills in her hand. Sardon hands her some water.
"As for you, Chester..." Cathy rummages through the medicine, searching for something else. "Sardon, what type of magic is it most like?"
"I'd say a mix between a curse and... bad internal magic with something else mixed in."
The doctor sighs and pulls out two bottles. "I don't know if this'll help, but... If the magic in your body reacts the same as most, then these should weaken it. You need to take three of each a day..."
"Six pills a day?" I moan.
"This should only delay its effect on you. We'll have to do more research to figure out an actual cure... I need to know about all of the symptoms you've shown since the start of this in order to research it. Let me write down what I've found so far, though..." Cathy begins writing on a sheet of paper while I open one of the two bottles of pills. I shake three into my hand and Sardon hands me a cup of water. I put one in my mouth and drink the water, washing the pill down. I continue doing that for the other five I have to take. Geez, this is a pain... I hope this helps, though... I can't afford to be sick! Milard takes the bottles of pills from me and Arche and stores them in the pack.
"You said he faints sometimes?" Cathy inquires.
"Yeah. He turns as pale as a ghost and his skin grows cold..." Dad answers.
"And how do you feel at those times, Chester?"
"Perfectly fine. Though it's odd... All three times, I saw this little princess brat from the year 2541."
"...What?!"
"Chester, why didn't you tell us this before?!"
"I didn't think it was important!"
"Of course it's important!" argues Dad. "Chester, you need to tell us these things! Who is this girl? What have you seen?"
"Princess Merilynn of Fenrir, from the year 2541... Somehow I seem to travel to her time, but neither of us know how. She's been there all three times, but her friends were there the first two times..." They look confused. "Erm, let me back up..." I tell them about the visions, starting from when I first saw the little thief and the prince. I wonder if he's her brother...? When I'm finished, they pause, considering this information.
"Do you think the girl has the same disease?" questions Mint.
"I dunno... I'll ask her next time."
"What else have you felt?" questions the doctor.
"Nothing really... just that."
"I take it you've been exercising a lot?"
"I've been walking all over Aselia for weeks... Not to mention fight or running from danger."
"And your diet?"
"Sometimes meals have been interrupted, but lately I've been able to have full meals. Though Brambert's food wasn't that good..."
"Really? I thought it was great!" says Cless.
"Yeah, Brambert's a really good cook!" my sister agrees.
"It wasn't that good... it was bland," I argue.
"That's how potatoes usually are," Milard offers.
"So you've been having a lot of food lately... Let me know if anything in your diet changes."
"We're going to be time traveling soon," Klarth points out.
"I'll handle that!" Sardon announces proudly. "I have a device that should let us communicate, no matter what time you're in! I'll show you that when we're done here!"
"Speaking about time traveling, has that had any effect on any of you?"
"Not unless Chester's disease is caused by it," answers my father.
"All right... Well, there's nothing more I can do until I research this. I want both of you to let me know how the medicine works and if anything changes... Come back in a week so I can see if there's any change."
"All right," I say. I glance over at Arche, who seems to be engrossed in the label on her medicine bottle. "Hey, Arche?"
"Huh?!" She pops up, surprised.
"Are you okay?"
"Yep! Er, so what now?" Geez, she wasn't paying any attention...
"You're coming with me!" Sardon declares, excited.
"Huh?!"
"We're going to see what Sardon has for us now..." Dad explains. "Cathy, how much do we owe you?"
"Nothing. I'm happy to have been able to help you... I'm sorry I couldn't help any more..."
"We'll do research! We'll figure out what these curses are, no matter what!" Sardon shouts.
"Thank you... Thank you both so much!" Cless says.
"Come on now! I have to show this to you! Oh, and get the pact ring!" We wave bye to Cathy and follow Sardon back to his house. The door's still broken, and Mieu's pacing around inside.
"Welcome back, Master!" the creature greets.
"Thanks Mieu! You guys wait up here—I'll go get the pact ring and communication thingy!" The young man rushes downstairs, to his basement.
"So you're both cursed..." mutters Cless.
"I'm sorry I can't do anything for you..." the dove says.
"It's fine! It hasn't affected me at all yet!" Arche points out.
"Yeah, and I feel fine."
"Yours troubles me, Chester," Dad speaks up. "A new magic... that could be very dangerous. We have no clue what it'll do..."
"We don't know what caused it, either," Suzu points out.
"Or how to cure it," adds the meerkat.
"Keh, we didn't learn anything," Dhaos says coldly. "We don't know what either curse does. For all we know, their bodies could be taken over when we least expect it!"
"...You obviously haven't met Odin," says the steed.
"Yeah, that's his forte," the tiger agrees. "Anyway, that's already happened to at least three of us. We're learning how to deal with that problem, so it'd no worse than if Odin himself were to attack us. I'm worried about something more serious happening..."
"Nothing too bad has happened yet! I haven't fainted or gotten amnesia or anything like Chester, so that's a good sign!"
"Hey, shut up! Geez, the perfect curse for you would be to give you a personality change!"
"I think you're the one that needs that! Why can't you be nice for once?!"
"You're the one that started this!"
"Now, now, you two..." Dad calls us down while Ami giggles.
Sardon returns with a book in his hands. "Here you go!" He hands it to Dad along with a pact ring. The ring, like all of his others, is made of silver with a large stone on it. The stone on this one is amber with black stripes. "That's the Tigers-eye Ring!"
"Tiger, eh? Appropriate," I joke.
"I'll do my best to serve you, New Master!" Mieu says happily.
"Sardon, are you sure it's all right for me to take Mieu? He's your greatest experiment, isn't he?"
"Yes, but... If he can help you save the world, he'll fulfill a better role than anyone could ever imagine," Sardon says, sounding serious for once. He pauses, his eyes not meeting anyone; he then jumps up and excitedly exclaims, "And he can tell me all about different time periods! It'll be sooooooo cool! He can tell everyone about your adventures!"
"I'll be sure to bring him back when it's all over, then," Dad promises.
"All right, Mieu! Be good for Klarth-san!"
"I will! I'll do my best to help!" Mieu says happily as the summoner puts the ring on his finger. He holds it out and Mieu vanishes in an orange light that flies into the ring.
"And the second thing!" Sardon yells as he holds the book up in the air and then passes it to Dad. "This was originally meant to be a time travel device, but... Heh heh, that never worked! So we'll try communicating with it! Just write my name and the year and day you want it to start at the top of the page—it'll only open to one page! After that, it should keep track of how much time is passed and we'll be able to communicate like we're in the same time period!"
"I take it you have one, too, then?" my father inquires as he opens up the book.
"Yep! It's down in my Super-Awesome-Research-of-Greatness-Facility!" Sardon proudly replies.
"...You mean your basement," I state dryly.
"It's my Super-Duper-Awesome-Experiment-Facility!" he yells angrily.
"You changed the name!"
"Did not!"
"Can I see the 'facility'?" Arche asks sweetly.
"Nope! It's only for me, Cathy, and experiments! Though you can see it if you become a test subject!"
"What kinds of experiments are these?"
"Are you crazy?!" I demand. "Wait, never mind, I already know the answer..."
"What?! Idiot!"
"So then, where are you off to next?" Sardon questions us.
"We're going further into the past to meet Martel."
"Great! As soon as you get there, test out the communication device! Oh, you can use it as a weapon, too! The spells are encrypted in the pages that are attached together, so it'll hold up no matter what you do it! Well, unless you put a hole through it..."
"What's today?"
"Oh right! It's August 26, 4304!"
Dad writes in the book and then closes it, turning to Cless. "Shall we get going, then? Thank you for all of your help, Sardon."
"No problem! We'll research those curses, so keep in touch! See ya!"
"Bye!" We wave to the researcher and walk outside, where Cless holds up the Eternal Sword. The rest of us wait patiently... What will the world be like before recorded time, six and a half thousand years before we were born? We're about to find out...
"Klarth-san, what town should I transport us to?"
"We'll probably want to go to Yggdrasil, so Miguel."
"All right. O mighty Sword of Time, take us to 4304 years ago, before recorded time, to the city of Miguel!"
Blue light blinks up around us, wind swirling violently. I notice Sardon wave at us before we get transported through the rift in time and space.
Klarth gained the title of Wise Man. No one beats him in the realm of wisdom!
Arche gained the title of Oblivious. What happened...?
Chester gained the title of Test Subject. Everyone wants to experiment on him!
Ami learned Coil.
Klarth can now summon Mieu.
Klarth received the Tigers-Eye Ring.
Klarth received the Communication Book.