Stahl and Gaius both slammed down to the ground, and when they got up, they were both in complete bafflement as to just where the hell they had ended up at.
The ground they stood on was a gray brick floor, and through the windows of the building they had found themselves in, they could see a sky that was covered in varying shades of blue, from a light baby blue to dark navy blue. All Stahl could do was scratch his head while Gaius looked around, equally confused.
"Hello, my friends!" a voice shouted out, and Stahl and Gaius both turned out to see an old man clad in orange and white at the top of a staircase, and he had a book in his hand. He smiled as he began to walk down the stairs. "My name is Old Hubba. And welcome to the Outrealm Gate."
Gaius looked at Stahl before raising his eyebrow and asking "The Outrealm Gate?"
"The Outrealm Gate connects various worlds together. Through here, you could access a seemingly infinite amount of worlds. I know I'm not able to count 'em all!" Old Hubba said. He took a moment to chuckle before his face looked more serious again. "This means I was completely unaffected when Bulzark altered the timeline of your world."
Stahl and Gaius looked at each other in complete confusion. "…Who?" Stahl asked in a confused tone.
Old Hubba shook his head. "See, this is why I had to intervene. I normally just test fortunes and guard the Einherjar cards – that's a whole other can of worms, by the way. I intervened and brought you two here because you have both sucked at finding Bulzark. You didn't even recognize his damn name!"
Stahl approached Old Hubba closer. "Well, forgive us, sir. We've kept getting caught up in the messes this timeline has to offer. And when we were training to ride on that Pegasus," Stahl responded as he looked down at the ground, figuring that Old Hubba already knew about their Pegasus training, "We couldn't find any hints or clues as to who he was."
"I know," Old Hubba said in a deadpan tone. "That's why I've come to help."
"Well, wait," Gaius replied, raising up his finger. "Why are you only helping us now?"
Old Hubba's smirk disappeared, replaced by a worrying frown. He looked down at the ground and sighed. "Because we are almost out of time. Now follow me."
Old Hubba began walking up the stairs, and Stahl and Gaius followed him, wondering where all of this was going.
"Bulzark is a Manakete, just like Nowi. I forget what tribe he comes from. I can only tell you what he did during the second conflict between Medeus and the great Hero King Marth. Bulzark was loyal to Medeus, and he was sent to chase after the knight Camus from Grust, who was trying to escort Princess Nyna of Archanea to safety. But he was fought and defeated, and then Bulzark fled…"
He looked out one of the windows of his home before he kept moving on forward, with Stahl and Gaius following close by. "Now, I can hardly tell you shit about what he did after that. Do forgive me, but well…he was like a footnote. I thought him to be nothing more than a footnote. But then he traveled back in time to slay Marth, and you two were brought along for the ride. It was a strange, time-based spell, so that's why you two were just flung back towards that village."
Gaius let out an uneasy 'eeeh' to which Old Hubba turned around and angrily replied, "Oh come on. How was I supposed to know any of this would happen? And I'm making up for it by helping you two out now."
He pointed to a picture of a green gem that hung onto the brick walls, and it was only then that Stahl and Gaius noticed that picture. "This is the Gem of Medeus. It was created by Bulzark himself, and of course, he named it after his master Medeus. He used this to travel through time to kill Marth and create the timeline you two landed into. Aaand it looks like he's going to travel back through time again."
Gaius scratched his head. "Well, why didn't he do that right after he went back the first time? He sounds kind of stupid to me."
Old Hubba raised up his finger. "From what I could gather, going back 2000 years in the past kind of drained the gem's power a great deal, and it took a long time to recharge. He traveled to Millennium Court and has been hiding there for a while now. But the Gem of Medeus is beginning to recharge, and Medeus is readying himself to go back in time – presumably to kill Cordelia's ancestor so that Medeus' reign will go interrupted. And I gotta say, you two are lucky that I'm here, or else your entire world would be screwed."
Stahl approached Old Hubba closer again and began making motions with his hands. "We're sorry. We really are. We did try to find Bulzark – we just couldn't find…anything on him. And we kept getting sidetracked by evil versions of our friends."
"Yes, yes, I get it. But I would have an easier time forgiving you if you were Cordelia and Cherche," Old Hubba paused for a moment and smiled. "Man, those two are hot. Shame that Cordelia turned into such a bitch in this new timeline. And that she killed Cherche. But maaaan would I still do her. And the thought of those two –"
Stahl cleared his throat, and Old Hubba began to laugh awkwardly. "Erm, sorry. Got sidetracked by overwhelming beauty there. Anyway, before I send you two back to that world, there is something I must do. Give one moment, I need my other spell book."
Old Hubba put his book down and walked into the room right next to this one, and Stahl and Gaius stood there silently as they waited for a minute as they could hear Hubba searching around the other room. They heard many banging and clanking sounds as they waited for Hubba to find whatever it was he was looking for. After that minute, Old Hubba came rushing out of the room with a book in his hand.
"Forgive me, I hardly use this book." Hubba said, letting out a heavy breath. "This is a very old spell book, written by the first ever mage – how I got it is a whole other story. You see, Bulzark has to speak in an ancient language to utilize the Gem of Medeus. A language normal humans couldn't even begin to learn. This spell will allow you to use the Gem without having to worry about that language. And as a bonus, it won't jarringly fling you forward in time."
"That is very good to hear," Gaius replied, rubbing his neck as he did so.
"And follow me. There is something else I must give to you," Old Hubba added on, and he walked back down the stairs, with Stahl and Gaius following suit. They walked forward for a bit before Old Hubba stopped by a wardrobe. He opened the wardrobe, and he opened it up to reveal several suits of armor that looked too big for him, and he eyed two black ones.
"You two will need some pretty good armor to take down someone of Bulzark's level. I'll give you two these two black suits."
Stahl raised his eyebrow. "Erm, why do you have…"
"Don't judge me. You live your life, I live mine."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
After Stahl and Gaius donned their black, sleek, and shiny armor, they walked back towards Old Hubba. Old Hubba would only be able to send them back to the very spot from whence they had been transported, but they had just enough time to reach Millennium Court.
Gaius smirked and thought he looked cool with this armor on, but Stahl couldn't help but feel it was a little tight. Still, whatever it would take to finally finish off Bulzark.
Old Hubba let out a smile. "Time to save your world. Again."
"Right, right…" Gaius said, just wanting to get all of this over with.
Old Hubba opened up his original spell book and began chanting out until that blue flame began to consume Stahl and Gaius again. Old Hubba let out a chuckle. "Man, wouldn't it be great if Cordelia and Cherche –"
But before he could finish, the blue flame disappeared, and Stahl and Gaius with it. Old Hubba stood there for a moment and let out an 'hmph' before walking back towards the staircase.
Stahl and Gaius were indeed sent back exactly where they had been plucked from, and Sumia just stared at them in disbelief.
"And here you two are now…" Sumia said, her tone carrying all the bafflement and confusion of her expression. "You disappear and then reappear seconds later? What the hell was that?"
Stahl and Gaius were confused themselves, as they had been with Old Hubba for more than a few seconds. They both figured that time must move differently in the Outrealm, and they left it at that.
"Well…" Stahl said, only for them to be interrupted by roaring cheers from the Insurrection.
The heaping amount of Archanean bodies, and the severely beaten state of the surviving soldiers, was a glorious victory for the Insurrection, and they caught glimpses of Olivia, Gangrel, Walhart, and Pheros all screaming out in joy while Captain Libra let out a content smile.
"My friends and comrades!" Captain Libra said in an elated and boisterous voice that Stahl and Gaius had never heard from him or the other Libra. "Today, we proved how weak the Archanean Empire truly is! They came here, and they took us by complete surprise, but here we are now!"
Captain Libra paused for a moment to let everyone cheer once more while Stahl, Gaius, and Sumia just watched all of this unfold. When the cheers concluded, Captain Libra let out a small smile.
"And I can proudly say that I look pleasure in personally slaying General Sully herself! One of Archanea's most valued generals has fallen before us, and soon, the Thorn Queen will as well!"
There were more cheers, and Stahl decided to not bother clarifying on the truth regarding General Sully's death.
"We will be heading to Millennium Court first thing in the morning – we have just enough resources left, and the Archanean Empire has shown how easily they will fall! In just a few days, I shall spill the Thorn Queen's blood, and then we will finally bring prosperity to this land!"
The cheers were uproarious, and ignored by the trio. Stahl looked at Sumia and began making more motions with his hands. "Someone came in and gave us some help. We finally know who changed the timeline. It's this guy named Bulzark, and he's heading to Millennium Court to alter history once more. We have to take his artifact, the Gem of Medeus, to stop him once and for all."
"That sounds like a plan," Sumia replied, before looking back at Captain Libra and his followers. "And interesting how we're headed to Millennium Court after all."
"It is, isn't it?" Gaius quickly added on, before turning his head away to look for their Pegasus. "So let's fly out here already."
"Well, I'm not too sure we can," Sumia said, and they all walked up towards their Dark Pegasus, with Stahl remembering its injured wing.
"Sumia's right. The Pegasus' wing got injured during the battle. It'll probably take a few days to heal. And that's all the time we have to get to Millennium Court. So, um, let's quickly ride out of here, since we're not welcome anymore. Then I say we take a few hours to rest before heading to the capital to finish this."
Gaius and Sumia nodded in agreement, and all three of them got onto the Pegasus and rode their way out of the Longfort, with few members of the Insurrection taking notice