FIC START!
By the time Kain and Sakinah had made it back to Fabul, there was all ready a full-scale Earthquake. The monk guardians did their best to make sure people were getting out, but there were plenty of men that had been crushed by the falling brick walls. The crystal was in the deepest chamber of the entire castle. The attack was from below. Sakinah figured that it was all ready taken by the... whatever it was. Kain set her down on the ground and jumped right back up to see if he could get a glimpse as to what was going on. He only saw another tower topple over before landing back on his feet. Sakinah watched at eye level to see if there were any monsters to be dispatched, but found none. She did, however, see someone running straight for her.
"Is that you, Queen Shelia?" Sakinah asked right before another tremor rumbled the ground again. Shelia tripped, and Sakinah caught her the best she could manage.
"I was worried for you," Shelia said, gasping for air. "I thought you were still in the tower, and-"
"Don't worry about me," Sakinah said, watching the walls close by. She helped the queen to her feet and helped her run out of danger. She started to panic when she realized that Kain wasn't following, too. She knew of the dragoon's agility, but she couldn't help but worry for him. The last thing she needed was the one that was going to help her find her answers being crushed by this disaster. Fuck it, she thought. Now that the queen was safe, she could go back in there and-
"Do not go in there, it's far too dangerous," Shelia said, snatching Sakinah's arm. "I cannot send yet another into-"
"I don't care," she said. "I'm going to help Kain."
"And how will you do that? You are barely keeping your footing as the ground quakes below you," the queen said. She was being reasonable, but that didn't mean Sakinah wanted to listen. "Wait for him, dear."
"But-"
"Don't think you are the only one that's waiting for someone to come back to you," Shelia said. That's right. Master King Yang and Princess Ursula were her family - her husband and daughter. And she didn't even know yet about what was going on out in the fields. "Don't be so selfish, Sakinah."
The skyseer looked up at the sky, wondering if there was anything she really could do to counter what was going on. The earth was the earth, and the sky was the sky. She prayed with all her might for the stars to take care of Kain while he was midair, causing the wind itself to shift. A single tear rolled down her cheek, and she looked up. How she wanted to shout, how she wanted it all to end, but she felt nothing but useless amid this disaster. "Queen Shelia, there's something... I have to tell you."
"There is?"
"Yes," she nodded. "There's some sort of creature or monster that lives within the planet... we don't know exactly what it is, but I have a theory that it's seeking out the crystals. It was eating the energy the crystal provided, which caused all the crops and the Earth itself to rot." Sakinah couldn't help but watch the sky. Oh, come down, Kain, please, please please, please...
"I see," Shelia whispered. "And it's possible that my husband and daughter both ran off to face this creature together, in the same way they did back when the Creator of the Crystals came to destroy us."
"That isn't just possible. I'm sure that's where they are. When we found a tunnel underground that led to where the monster was absorbing energy, we couldn't find either Master King Yang or Princess Ursula," Sakinah continued. "I refuse to believe they fell to such a creature when they fought adversity during both of conflicts."
"Just like I refuse to believe something as simple as this would be what kills your beloved dragoon," Queen Shelia said.
"I guess when you compare it to everything this world's been through, it really is simple..."
"Indeed."
They shared a quiet laugh, though it didn't last long. They were both nervous, not sure of how to handle the fact that they were just waiting. For people they cared about to show up, for things to be resolved, for things to go back to the way they were supposed to be...
Suddenly a monster roared behind them, and Sakinah stood defensively in front of Queen Shelia. It was the first time she faced a monster on her own, but that wasn't going to hold her back. She pulled her boomerang out before yelling that someone needed to watch over the queen. The warrior monks were all tending to others nearby, and many of them weren't in fighting shape. She gulped. It was one of those creatures that normally lived in the woods near Fabul, but something was wrong. It bore an unnatural bloodlust, readying the quills on its back for an attack. Sakinah looked up at the sky, wondering if she could put that Skyseer power to use again. Before, it took time to activate, and Kain would be the one distracting the monster until she was ready to use it. Then again, with the skies as dark as they were, what could be done with that? She threw the boomerang, cutting the skin of the monster. It was nowhere near the force needed to stop it.
"Can I help at all?" Shelia asked.
"Stand back," she said, throwing her boomerang again. She just wasn't strong enough! Damn it! "I got this."
It lunged for her, scratching at her arms. The cuts bled, but not terribly. She was still able to fight.
"At least, I want to say I've got this," she corrected herself. She put her hands together, trying to sense the Earth crystal all the way in Troia. She whispered a prayer, raising them up towards the sky. "Please! Grant me your blessing!"
Thunder crackled against the night sky, causing many of the people around to panic further. Fabul had been decimated by an earthquake. They really couldn't imagine much worse than that.
"Mother Earth, Father Sky! Grant me... your blessing!" she yelled even louder.
The clouds parted, and the moon's light fell upon the monster. It bent down and snatched her up off the ground. It shook her until she stopped resisting and then burrowed back under the ground the way it came.
Queen Shelia took a step back, her mouth agape in fear. Her magic, or whatever it was, didn't take effect when she called upon it. Shelia wanted to order the warrior monks to go find her, but so many of her people needed assistance. "Yang..." she whispered, desperate. "...when do we... get to live in peace on our little blue planet?"
