Rated: PG-13
Language: English
Categories: Humour/Adventure
Title: RoChronicles
Summary: Life was good for Zira, Shujiri, Swift, and Eos where they lived in the division of Rune Midgard known as Void. Then one day, a dark cloud fell over the land and everything they knew fell apart. Will they ever be able to pick up the pieces? More importantly, can they remember who they were along the way?
Author's Note: I actually had to fight myself about this part of the story; I wasn't really sure I wanted to include Beelzebub from the third floor of the abbey, so I just cheated a little. Truth be told, I hate fighting Beelzeb'tch almost as bad as I hate fighting Zombies, Ghouls, Ragged Zombies, and Zombie Slaughters, albeit for entirely different reasons. Someday I might go back and incorporate the fight, perhaps add another chapter in between this one and the next, but for now, I've decided against putting in the third floor MvP in favour of saving myself some sorrow and angst from having to write another big battle right after the last one. They need a break, too, right? As for themes, this one's not from the game, but I listened to it in place of the bgm for abbey03; Shikata Akiko - Kiniro no Chousou. It's creepy-sounding!

RoChronicles


Chapter Forty-One: The Cursed Abbey (Part 3)
When Lady Lana completed the prayer, Shujiri was the first to move. He took slow, steady steps up to her, his feet feeling like so much dead weight at the bottom of his legs after the physically, and then emotionally, draining battle they'd just been through. As he reached her, he held out his free hand. In it was clutched a Priest's wand, looking well-used but in very good condition, all things considered.

Lana glanced down at the item in his hand and blinked, then looked back up to meet his eyes. Her confusion shone bright in her own eyes as he stared back at her.

The Assassin took her hand gently, placing the wand into it and then curling her fingers around it. His voice was soft when he spoke. "This flew out of his hand when we attacked him that last time; whether it was his or someone else's who used to stay here in the abbey, I think ye should decide what to do with it - keep it to have something to remember your religious comrade by, or leave it with him as a burial object...I've never met him until now, but I'm sure he'd want some good to come from an encounter that started so badly. It might help down the line. I think he knew something about what's been going on that he wasn't coherent enough to tell us."

Lana smiled weakly at Shujiri's words. Her arms wound around his neck and she hugged him tightly, suddenly finding herself without the energy to draw away. She stayed there for a few moments, using him for support and he let her, knowing she needed the companionship as much as any of them now. There was only so much a High Priest could do, and they just hadn't been trained to deal with the kind of situation they'd just found themselves in.

After a bit, the long-haired woman pulled back, her hands closing around the wand and resting against her lap. "Thank you, Shujiri." she said quietly, offering him a small, weak smile. "I never spoke to him more than in passing when he would visit the church in Prontera, but he was a kind man and a very religious one. Whatever happened to him to cause that demon to latch onto him, it had to have been something terrible - he had to have been lead into it under false pretenses. There's just no way possible for him to have done something so bad knowingly. He wasn't like that."

"Aye; I understand."

Lana turned from him, looking up to the ceiling to gather her thoughts, then moved towards Jackel, Dmitri and Sahari. For once, the pang of jealousy didn't rise up in Shujiri; she'd traveled with them longer and if she wanted to seek further comfort in them, it was her right and he wouldn't try to stop her. He had one more thing to give someone else, first, anyway.

Deep blue eyes turned onto Zira, being held tightly in Jeliel's arms as his cerulean eyes hid behind long lashes and tears fell onto the High Wizard's cloak.

He frowned slightly, remembering what his friend had once told him in another life about studying for a short time under the man before he'd become a Bishop and had been whisked off to the abbey to offer his services there. If the pattern had stayed close to what he suspected from those closest to him's lives in the past to now, it was entirely possible he'd done the same this time as well. On top of that, he was very aware that his friend was extremely sensitive to the powerful emotions surrounding him, and had been since a very young age.

Shujiri advanced to the pair and forced a smile that fell short of reaching his eyes. When Jeliel nudged the blonde gently to get his attention, his smile brightened slightly in thanks.

Zira turned to face his friend, rubbing the tears off on the heel of his palm as he did. Once he could see well enough through the blur, he forced a smile of his own as a greeting. Like Shujiri's, it didn't make it to his eyes.

"Ye told me once, on Void, that you trained under him for a while before he got his title as a Bishop. Remember?"

Zira nodded. "I wasn't sure why when we first met, but it felt like I'd known him before, just like it did with you. I wanted to find out why, so I jumped at the chance to train with him when it was offered. When more memories of having known him came up, I started to copy what had happened in them to try to get the same reactions again whenever I had the chance, and he'd always responded just the way he did in those memories. I wasn't sure what was going on, or if they were visions or what, but they were comforting considering that I hadn't managed to get in touch with most of the rest of my memories yet. I always felt lonely - like something was missing..." He took a steadying breath. "Did this happen to him last time? We didn't come here, so maybe he was spared from this..right?"

It was Shujiri's turn to take the blonde in his arms now, giving him a comforting but slightly awkward hug, having to be mindful of the nervously fluttering wings in arm's reach.

When Zira was somewhat calm again, he replied, "I don't know. Maybe?" He pulled away and gently squeezed the man's shoulder in his hand. "I don't want to lie to ye, so I have to tell you it's possible he did, but it's also possible the same thing happened to him then, and we just never found out about it. But, I have something that you might want."

Zira blinked, then tilted his head slightly as he wiped away a lone tear that had started to streak its way down his cheek. "What would that be?"

A gloved hand took Zira's and held it, palm up, towards the roof of the abbey. When the fingers uncurled, he placed the tiny object in the center and then closed the fingers around it himself. With a last comforting squeeze of the hand, he let go and stood back.

Zira brought the hand up to his chest slightly, opening it to get a better look at what he had just been given. His eyes widened when he saw the beautiful blue gem at the center of a golden band, surrounded by almost petal-shaped white gold, like a flower. "This is-?"

Now Shujiri's smile was real again as he nodded. "Aye, Hibram's ring. It fell off during one of his attacks, and rolled to my feet. I was going to give it back to him if we could save him, but since we couldn't.." His eyes trailed off to the body for a moment before jerking them back away again and meeting Zira's. "I think since you trained with him, he would possibly have wanted you to have it, if for nothing else than for helping him to get free of that demon."

Two arms were tight around his neck before Shujiri could react, and he stood in surprise for a moment before finally returning his best friend's hug. They pulled apart when a stranger's amused voice reached their ears.

"Oh, by all means, don't let me interrupt anything, here."

Yuuki was at the stranger's side in a moment, the tip of his blade resting evenly and steadily against the man's throat just hard enough to where, if he pressed even a little of his strength into it, his pristine white clothes would be decidedly more crimson by the time the bleeding at his pulse stopped. "Who are you?"

Thin, regal eyebrows arched from underneath a mop of wild white hair. "My name is Wizomgot; I'm here to look into what's happening in the abbey. I was making my way to the third floor when I heard the commotion here and came to see what was going on."

The name was familiar, and Shujiri was sure he'd heard it before. But where..?

"Oh!" the Assassin Cross exclaimed, "You're Gambriel's friend, right?"

Wizomgot smiled and nodded, a bit confused at being recognized when he hadn't met the people in front of him before. "I am; who are you? What are you doing here?"

Zira eased Yuuki's sword away from the High Wizard's throat, smiling. "He's Shujiri. I'm Zira."

Shujiri resumed the introductions, pointing out each man and woman to the newcomer before answering his second question. "We were hoping Chrnos and Xabel came by here; we'd heard they were headed for the abbey and hoped we could catch up to them. It's important."

Chocolate brown eyes narrowed in thought as the short-haired Wizard studied the Assassin Cross and High Priest in silence. He seemed to be putting pieces of a puzzle together in his mind and drawing conclusions, though they weren't quite sure what those were, let alone if they wanted to ask, judging by his expression. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open and he flashed them a charming grin. "Well, I'm not sure if your friends are here or not, but I hope your quest goes well. It's dangerous."

Shujiri arched a slightly bushy brow at this. "How did you know we were on a quest?"

"You've just confirmed it for me, haven't you? I could have been talking about the search for our friends, but that didn't seem like a real reason for you to come here if it wasn't important. No one comes here alone, and very few people come here just as a pair. Come and walk with me; we'll make our way to the upper floor of the abbey together and we can exchange information. I'm curious as to why they came here by themselves without telling you."

The group proceeded up the flight of stairs at the end of the hallway, each person chipping in a little about what had happened so far and why they were doing what they were. In return, Wizomgot relayed to them how his dreams had been pushing him to come to the abbey for a few months, now, and he'd finally decided to do just that when he heard a rumour about a great evil on the third floor.

This by no means, of course, made the group feel any better about going further in.

"So most of your magic is self-taught?" asked Dmitri incredulously, staring wide-eyed at the man by his side. "That's amazing! I've only ever heard of magic users having to go to a school to learn; you must be very powerful."

Wizomgot laughed aloud, quickly covering his mouth with one gloved hand to remain as quiet as possible so he wouldn't attract monsters to them. "I guess; that's what Gambriel and Raito say, at least. I feel as if I could be stronger; like I'm not reaching my full potential. It's frustrating."

Jeliel rolled his eyes, but remained tight-lipped. The gods must have been smiling down on them to deliver this small miracle. The pink and white wings attached to his back fluttered in annoyance.

"Those are some impressive wings some of you have," Wizomgot said, the movement having drawn his attention to the appendages. "Where I come from, wings are exceedingly rare; they're awarded to the people who do a large service for the gods. I've only ever read about the wings you all have!" His eyes raked across the four types, lips quirked in a happy grin. "Hierarchy, Flame, Great Dragon, Fairy Burst - they're incredible! Tell me, can you fly on them?"

"Eventually." Shujiri admitted, chuckling at the man's enthusiasm. "Jeliel and me still have to get used to it and learn how, first, but we have two born-winged teachers here to help us with that."

These words only served to stoke the other man's intrigue further. "Born-winged, you say? As in, born with them? That can't be right; wings are gifts from the gods for warriors who've proven their worth. How-?"

Shujiri chuckled. "I imagine Zira fought tooth and nail to keep 'em," he said with a sly smirk directed at the blonde. "He's always liked being able to fly. I think he's secretly a show-off, deep down, sometimes."

The blonde huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "And you say this as if you aren't, Shujiri. I'll have you know they run in my family! Even my father has them!"

Now it was Falcone who chuckled. "As for my own, I grew into them, so to speak."

"Grew into-?"

The redhead nodded. "Rather than being born with them or having them gifted to me, I just woke up one day in my early childhood and there they were. I nearly set my bed on fire with them when I got a good look at them; I wasn't aware they enhanced fire abilities or why they had suddenly appeared, so I wasn't sure how to control the flame in them to keep it from lashing out at my surroundings. I found out that being threatened with an ice cold shower was a very effective way of doing it."

"Late bloomer?" Ghebriel inquired, his tone teasing as he prodded Falcone's arm gently.

The Scholar took Ghebriel's hand in his own, partly to stop the poking and partly because he wanted a reason to hold it that the Biochemist wouldn't flinch away from. He dipped down quickly and captured his lips in a quick kiss, then, pulling away, smirked mentally at the blush dusting the pale cheeks of the smaller man. "That may well be the case," he said, "But that bloom will never be as beautiful as yours, my love."

Lana and Sahari giggled, clutching each other's hands happily at the display.

Wizomgot looked lost.

The group continued walking, silence falling over them for the most part. Eventually Shujiri cleared his throat and, when he had Wizomgot's attention, he spoke. "We had a chance to talk to your friend, Gambriel, on the way here."

"Oh?"

"He had a lot to say about you, actually." The Assassin Cross winced inwardly. Well, it wasn't a total lie. He did talk about 'im.

"That so?"

Shujiri quirked a brow at the noncommittal answers, but pressed on. "He said ye took down the Evil Snake Lord by yourself. That's pretty impressive."

"He makes it sound like it was easy." Wizomgot mused, a small smile on his lips.

"From the sound of it, it must have been. Ye weren't apart for that long and by the time they found you, he was already dying. But what I'm curious about is what he said to you. 'Beware the holy blood in holy veins, shadows to drive the mad ones sane; repeat the past to unlock the key-'"

"'-Look to the future and join me.'" the white-haired man finished, nodding. "It was a weird thing to say, but he was a scholar, through and through. During the entire fight, he rambled on and on about finding 'the light' and destroying it. When it wasn't about a light, he yammered about 'legends repeating themselves.' I didn't understand anything he said, so I discounted it."

"Aye, I guess it doesn't make very much sense if you think about it."

"What would 'unholy blood in holy veins' mean, anyway?"

"A monster? Maybe Randgris..?"

"'Shadows to drive the mad ones sane' threw me for a loop more than anything else. I can understand what he meant by 'repeat the past to unlock the key, look to the future and join me'. If no one learns from their mistakes, they just end up being made all over again when it could have been prevented. But what was he trying to get across to me?"

"If you ask me, it almost sounds like a prophecy." Alex said, catching the two men's attention. "Really, if you think about it, none of the others made to date have made much sense if you take it at face value. You have to really dig in order to get at what they're trying to say."

Wizomgot nodded, accepting the sage words. "This is true; prophecies are mysterious. It's up to the people who hear them to figure out the meaning behind it and take it as they may. What they do with the information they're given is up to them, and that's what determines their fate."

"Take the one about Azirael for example."

Deep brown eyes locked onto Alex in contemplation before Wizomgot replied this time, a small smile on his lips. "You heard the legends too, then?"

"Hard not to; Rune-Midgard's most powerful magician has a lot of lore written about him. Specifically, the prophecy tied to him. No one's ever figured out what it means."

Wizomgot threw a simple cast of Jupitel Thunder at an approaching Flame Skull, repelling it into the distance, as he asked, "And do you happen to remember what it said?"

"There was something in it about deceit, the world's end, and the number three. There was also something about holy power, although nobody ever did make any connections there, either."

Shujiri and Zira exchanged a look, but remained silent as the two carried on with their conversation.

"No one is really entirely sure what that prophecy even means, much less when it's supposed to take place," said the white-haired man with a slight shrug. "It makes for food for thought, though."

Now it was Alex who nodded. "No one was even sure Azirael even existed; no books have anything on his life aside from the feats he supposedly accomplished and the quirks of his personality. For all we know, he might have been a figure of myths and legends created to lighten the spirits of Midgardians through their dark days before modern times. A figure to learn lessons from, of sorts. Much like some of the other mythical characters we know of today, such as Avalis."

"Azirael's friend, yes?"

"And guinea pig, in some stories."

Wizomgot chuckled at this. "Point is, nothing has ever been clearly translated from the prophecies he was supposedly involved in, and it's never even been proven if he was real or not, although I feel personally as if there's no possible way he could have not been. As far as what the Evil Snake Lord said to me as he was dying, we may never know if what he said was meant to be a prophecy, or a threat meant to scare me away so he could try to slither off and recover."

Groans and moaning from ahead of them caught the group's attention and silenced all conversation. It was such a familiar garble of sounds that Zira shuddered, clinging to Jeliel's arm tightly. Shujiri's ears strained to try to determine the distance they were from the monsters ahead, but with the way the abbey's walls distorted the sounds inside it, there was no way of being sure how close they were to a potentially dangerous situation. Again.

When the shuffling seemed to head in a direction away from them and eventually fell silent entirely, the travelers let out a collective sigh of relief.

"There are more of those things on this floor too?" Sahari whined in frustration. "Didn't we already deal with them downstairs?"

"The whole abbey is cursed," Wizomgot said with a bitter smile, patting the girl on the shoulder reassuringly. "The best anyone who comes here can do is be prepared to fight or run and, in the most dire circumstances, decide what's more important to them - the good of the few, or the needs of the many."

A shiver ran through the blue-haired Assassin Cross and the blue-eyed High Priest beside him at Wizomgot's words. They had been in that situation far too many times for their liking, and they knew there was a likelihood they would eventually face it again. They prayed it wouldn't be soon.

"We need to keep going ahead, so we'll have to be careful. The last thing we want is a repeat of our last encounter with zombies on this island." Shujiri informed his friends, his voice hushed just in case there were more of those things nearby that they hadn't heard.

Everyone nodded and they proceeded down the halls of the last floor in the abbey, winding their way down the seemingly abandoned corridors and checking various rooms.

The search had been fruitless so far, but the appearance of a group of monsters in tattered old cloaks wielding staffs, dangling an assortment of skulls from a rope held in clawed fingers, stopped them before they could go further.

The friends shrank back behind the corner. Once they were sure they hadn't been seen, Shujiri chanced a look back at the creatures in the next room. He frowned at the sheer number of monsters he saw before moving back again. Deep blue eyes closed in thought as his friends peered around the corner as well, cautious but curious.

"Necromancers." Wizomgot whispered, his voice low and serious. "Not to be messed with. Their control over the dead is astounding."

Jeliel snorted inwardly at the sight of the cloaked, man-shaped creatures. Turning his eyes back to Lady Lana and Zira, he whispered sarcastically, "Nice place you guys have here."

The blondes glared at the High Wizard, and Zira gently thumped his arm with a fist. "We're Priests, not Monks, you bloody git." he hissed in response.

Unwilling to allow the stern tones to escalate and reveal their location, Shujiri cleared his throat. Once the others were focused on him, he spoke. "Stick close together. If you see a Clown or Lord Knight, make sure to call mine or Zira's attention to it and let us know so we can try to get to them. We need to keep everything up here's attention off of us."

At this, Wizomgot blinked. "A Clown and Lord Knight?"

"Aye."

"I saw both of those earlier; the Clown was talking to the Lord Knight about going to Kiel Factory. They were being mobbed by several of the zombies on the lower floors and I offered my assistance."

Pharin opened his beak to reply, but Ghebriel quickly lifted his hand and pressed his fingers around it, forcing the small Filir to remain silent. The homunculus flapped indignantly but eventually gave up the struggle and accepted his master's silent demand for good behaviour.

"So we need to go to the factory?" Jeliel said with a frown. "This whole dangerous trip to this whole damn island was for nothing?"

"That's not true," Sahari reassured the teal-green-haired man with a bright smile. "I found a new pairing I like out of it!"

Jeliel shot the young girl a glare that silenced her, although her smile morphed into more of an amused smirk at the action. Dmitri just slapped his hand over his face.

Turning to Wizomgot, Shujiri asked, "Will you be safe here alone, or do ye want to come with us?"

The second High Wizard shook his head, declining. "Thank you, but I still have business to attend to here. You should all go ahead and catch up with your friends; if your quest is important enough to draw you here looking for them, then you have no time to waste waiting for me to finish up here. I do appreciate your offer, though."

Shujiri nodded. "Thank ye for your input and the information you shared with us." He shifted his attention to Lana and Zira, his body turned slightly towards them. "How do you feel about helping him out a little before we go?"

The two smiled their understanding and began their rounds of blessings and prayers, boosting the magician's natural skills with the holy powers of the gods. When they were through, they stood back again.

"Thank you for your help." Wizomgot said with a warm smile. "I hope you find your friends."

"And I hope ye find what you're looking for." Shujiri replied. "Be careful while you're here."

Messy white hair flopped as the other man gave an imperceptible nod at this. "Until we meet again, then."

"Tell Gambriel thank you for us, too, for his help and for saving us."

"To be honest, I'm surprised that you survived his flying more than I am that you didn't die before the air ship went down. I've had the misfortune of riding that ride, and I never want to do it again. Dorian and Heracles are much safer and much more considerate of their passengers."

"Just stay away from Ruko, and you're fine." Falcone murmured, unconsciously looping his arms around Ghebriel's waist as Jeliel did the same with Zira.

Wizomgot chuckled. "He means well, but he's something of a womanizer. I'm a little disappointed in his powers of observation that he didn't realize from your uniforms that you two are very much male, however, Zira; Ghebriel."

"Ohh, trust me - he paid for that." Alex reassured the man at his side with a grin. "They both let him have it, and even Falcone and Jeliel had a go."

An awkward silence filled the gap of conversation for a few moments until Shujiri stood upright and cleared his throat. "Well, with that, we need to head back. We don't have a lot of time to waste along the way if we want a fighting chance."

"I understand; be safe." Wizomgot called to the group as they turned and began to leave. "Stay close to the walls and duck into corridors now and then as you go. The Banshees don't seem to be able to find you as easily that way. The Flame Skulls mostly just float up and down the halls, but it's more or less of a pattern so you can easily figure out when to duck to avoid them. Magnus Exorcismus works quite well on Ragged Zombies and Zombie Slaughters on the floor below this!"

The group turned to him, waving that they understood, and softly called their thanks out to him once again before they turned to leave. When they were out of sight, the High Wizard sighed to himself. "I hope they get out of here safely."

A voice in front of him caught Wizomgot's attention. "You shouldn't worry about them; they're right on track for now. You should be more concerned about yourself. This place is dangerous, after all."

The tanned magician's eyes darted up into the face of the man speaking. He towered above him by several inches, his eyes concealed behind the dark lenses of a pair of sunglasses. Something about the smug smirk on his lips unnerved him and set him on edge, but he wasn't entirely sure why. Compared to where he was, what kind of threat could this man prove unless he wanted to draw the attention of all the monsters in the vicinity?

"And who might you be?"

"I'm upset you don't remember me, pretty boy. And we had such a fun history together, too!"

"You must be mistaken."

Wizomgot moved to edge around the man, but a gentle hand on his shoulder stopped him as he passed. A second man, one he hadn't noticed before, stood behind the first, his red gaze studying the chocolate eyes intensely with a coy smile on his face.

"Who might you be?" he ventured warily.

The smaller male chuckled, advancing forward until they were only a few inches apart, leaning in dangerously close. His voice was wispy and laced with the ghost of a giggle as he spoke to reply. "You might not remember us, my dear, but we remember you."

Wizomgot shuddered at the silken tone the words were uttered with. Although it brushed his mind like luxurious fabric, it grated against his nerves and only served to make him more conscious of his surroundings and the strangers before him. "You must have me mistaken with someone else. I should be on my way-"

"What's the rush?" the first man asked, his hand lifting to play with the red locks of hair that fell over the second's shoulder. "It's been a long time since we've seen each other; you should be happy to see us! We were looking forward to this little reunion; we were wondering when you'd come back around again, after all..."
To Be Continued...