The Mage's Tale
Chapter 6- The Chase Is On
These weren't his normal clothes. He had figured that out the moment he had entered the room that chilled his body. He had finally gotten fed up enough to feel what he was wearing, and it had turned him a lovely shade of crimson. Never in his life had he worn something so floozy and flimsy. And never had he worn something that didn't cover his stomach, and revealed more then half of his slender legs. Even though no one was there, he still felt self-conscious. The room was filled with inky darkness, and he didn't like it at all. It was as if this person had known that he wasn't partial to darkness, and had used his fear against him. Darkness scared him. It could hide anything, and you would never know that something lurked behind you. Or in front of you for that matter. He didn't like it at all. And he was cold. One of his other weaknesses. He loved warmth, and tended to dislike cold things.
"Hello?" He finally called out, hoping for a response that never came. He hugged himself as he wandered around, shocked at the fact that he never seemed to run into a wall. Where was he?
~~~***~~~
"Where is Sage?" Rowen demanded as Zechs laughed softly. The four left of their group had just entered the castle and had immediately demanded the return of their friend.
"Now why would I tell you that? Trying to find him is part of the game. And a very amusing part at that!" Rowen growled.
"Just give us Sage!"
"Aww, does the prince miss his boy toy?" Zechs teased as Rowen's eyes flared.
"Well, now Prince Touma, are you going to tell me that you aren't enjoying the game? Because it seems your friend Sage is." Zechs snapped his fingers as one side of the wall became translucent, and revealed the barely dressed elf. Sage was trembling and holding himself, a loose green tank top that showed off his navel and a thin sheet of white silk wrapped around his waist were the only clothes he had on, besides his soft leather sandals. Sage was walking slowly, lips a pale shade of blue, teeth chattering.
"You'll freeze him!" Rowen exclaimed as he watched the tired blonde stop to rest on the concrete ground below him.
"Well, I see you've finally figured out the game, Prince. He has exactly 2 hours and 32 minutes before he will freeze to death. Get to him before your time is up, he will live. Have fun finding him before your time runs out." Zechs pointed to an hourglass.
"When there is no sand left, your friend is no more." Zechs laughed. He snapped his fingers. And in a flash, all the people were gone. He laughed, pawns in a game that they could not win. They'd never find the elf. With a smirk, Zechs filled the wall with four screens, one on each wall. He had put the fairy and the Summoner together, for the fun of it. But the others were not so lucky. They were alone.
~~~***~~~
Ryo hated clowns. If there was one thing in his life that he hated with a passion, it was clowns. They always were smiling, which frightened him. No one should be able to smile that much. No one. Not even Master. And when he discovered that he was in a room full of the tiny things, his breaths grew short. The only clown that he liked was the tiny harlequin doll he had received from little Suzunagi that he was clutching in his hand at that exact moment. He walked slowly around the room, looking at all the figurines. He shuddered. They all had odd grins plastered to their faces, as if they were laughing at him. Pointing at him and smiling. He finally took notice to the mirror in a corner of the room and walked over to it. He gasped at what he saw. His hair was done in tiny black curls, a hat with two points on his head. Half red, half blue. His face had been painted half red and half blue as well, one moon for his eye on his left, a star for the eye on the right. His nose was painted black, a sad frown painted on as his mouth. His outfit was those same colors as well, stars embroidered everywhere, and his wings were gone. He looked at the doll in his hand and realized that it was gone. Instead was a black and white one, eyes contorted in an evil gesture, one limb having been removed. Ryo yelped and dropped it to the ground. He looked at himself and everything fell into place. He screamed. He was the fire doll.
~~~***~~~
He had to find Sage. The safety of the other boy was the only thing on his mind at the moment. Water was not one of Rowen's strong points, having never truly had to swim before. Till now that was. When he had disappeared from in front of Zechs, he had landed strait in a lake. After swimming to the shore with no real problems, he proceeded to dry himself off. Except he soon realized that he wasn't wet. He turned to the direction of the lake, but the pool of water was gone. With a confused sigh, he ignored the major headache that presented itself. He trudged along for what seemed like an eternity, but was truly only minutes, before he realized that he was at a cliffs edge. He scratched his head in thought then, turned to see if there was anything that he could climb down with. He spotted a vine-covered tree and grinned. He yanked off the plants and began to tie the ends together. He grinned when he finished, and made his way back to the cliff, to find that he was no longer at cliff's edge. He was instead at the bottom of a mountain. He groaned in annoyance. At this pace, it would take him forever to find the blonde, and time was not something that he had at the moment. Stumbling up the path, he found a small cottage. He gasped. Talpa's cottage! The one he and Sage had first met in. Was Sage in here? Rowen took a deep breath and made his way over to the home. It was worth a shot. He opened the door, and instead of Sage, two people, a man and a woman, sat at a dinner table drinking tea. They looked at up Rowen and the woman smiled, thought the man did not.
"I see you have come to take the test. I am Naria and this is my fiancé, Mukara. We are the gatekeepers. Have you come for our help?" Rowen shrugged.
"I'm trying to find my friend. Have you seen him? Tall, blonde, violet-eyed, really hot?" Naria laughed.
"Oh, you have come for him. First you must prove yourself worthy of passing through. I will ask you a series of questions. Answer truthfully, and wisely, and then you will pass through to him. Fail, you are sent back to the lake of time. There you will have to make your way back to this cottage. Then you have that one last time to answer another series of questions, ok? I warn you, should you fail, keep in mind the question you miss. It may be asked once more." Rowen nodded, sounded simple enough.
"What is Sage's mother's first name?" She asked as Rowen gave her an odd look. How the heck would he know that? He had only met the woman a few times, and he had dresser her accordingly as "Miss Date". He thought hard, then looked up at the blue haired girl.
"How much time do I have." She shrugged.
"As much as you wish. But you may not wish to have very much. I think the life of your friend is in your hands." Rowen nodded. He thought quickly over everything that had happened since he had met Sage. He froze when he recalled their first encounter with Cale. He grinned.
"Siris Date!" He exclaimed as the woman smiled.
"Correct. Second question. In the game of life, which of these is the most important? Health, Love, or Wealth?" Rowen thought for a moment.
"Love." He murmured. Again the woman smiled.
"Correct. Last question. What is the most important thing to you?" Rowen was taken back. This was too easy. The first question had been the hardest.
"That's easy. Saving the world from Talpa." Naria smiled sadly.
"I am sorry. You have failed." Rowen gasped as everything went back, and he was again flailing his limbs wildly in the water.
"I failed?" He muttered. How had he failed? He swam to the shore. Saving the earth was the most important thing to him, wasn't it?
~~~***~~~
"Kento, what is this place?" Cye asked nervously as he and the fairy stared around the arena they were in. Cye was now clad in a knight's armor, much to his confusion.
"I'd say that it is a battle arena." Kento stated as Cye's eyes widened.
"A what?"
"A battle arena. They pit commoners against monsters they could not possible defeat, so the audience can watch them die." Cye gulped.
"Kento, I don't like the sound of that."
"Neither do I Cye, neither do I." There was a sudden, loud rumble as a large metal door swung open, revealing a large serpent with aqua scales and fangs as large as Cye himself. It roared loudly, as both Kento and Cye covered their ears.
"Cye, ummm… if you want to, summoning a creature now would be a good idea. Just a suggestion." Cye was frozen in terror. This thing was huge. And he could hear cheering behind him. People were cheering for his death. People wanted blood, and gore, a death to the poor chosen person. And at the moment, Cye and Kento were the chosen, though Cye doubted that the people could even see Kento.
"Umm…. Cye… any day now." Kento muttered, his voice filling with fear and his translucent wings fluttering nervously. The serpent advanced on them and Cye stood still. When it swung its mighty tail at Cye, the boy didn't move. Inches from his face, Cye muttered a few words that only Kento could hear.
"Raicho, bird of thunder, be set free and destroy this creature!" Everything went bright as the bird appeared, wings crackling in electric currents. The tail of the monster stopped in mid-hit, as it burst into spasms. Cye watched with distant eyes when it fell to the ground, frazzled and twitching. The bird let out a mighty victory cry, as it disappeared. They now cheered not for his death. They cheered for him. They had enjoyed the show. They had come to see entertainment, so that was what they received.
"Wow Cye! That thing was awesome!" Cye nodded numbly and watched as a door opened to the side of the arena. Cye slowly made his way over as Kento fluttered next to him, excitement in the fairy's voice.
"Hey, Cye, you ok?" The fairy finally asked, as Cye said nothing.
"They wanted me to die. I am one of their only hopes to live, yet they wished to watch me die. They throw innocent people in there. For the only reason being to become a one-man show of death." Kento shrugged.
"There's nothing that you can do about it Cye. Mia killed people in the jousts, yet you weren't bothered by it. Sage was, but not you."
"I know, but they chose to fight against her. These people are sent against their freewill. They even send woman in. Woman! Why would they do such a thing?" Kento hugged Cye's neck, trying the best he could to comfort the upset boy.
" There is no reason that they should get away with doing what they do Cye. But they do it still. There is nothing you or I or anyone can do. These people grow up their lives watching this. This is what they find normal. There is no way to change the way you are raised." Cye sighed.
"I understand. I guess that we better get going. We have to find Sage before it is too late." Kento nodded.
"Let's go!"
~~~***~~~
Cold. So cold. He tried to press on, stepping one foot at a time, forcing his body not to give in to the sleep it was begging for. His eyelids drooped, pleading for him to just curl up and fall into an eternal rest. His eyes shut once more, but he forced them open. With determination, he placed one foot in front of the other, and failed, collapsing soundlessly to the floor. He sighed through his blue lips, struggling to sit up, and failing. He couldn't do it. He had tried his magic, but it had failed him once more. Was this place immune to magic or something? He perished the thought as his internal battle was lost, and he drifted into sleep.
~~~***~~~
"Oh god! They're everywhere!" Ryo was hyperventilating. Just moments ago, the dolls had begun to move. And now they, all of then missing a limb of some sort, one eyeless, surrounded him.
"Why are you scared of us?" Ryo nearly fainted at the voice. The clowns could talk. The creepy little dolls could talk. At least, the ones with mouths could.
"You're a doll. You can't walk! You can't talk!"
"Yet you are a doll as well? Why are we do different then yourself?" One asked as Ryo remembered how he was dressed.
"I'm human. Well, demon. Someone put me in these clothes."
"Demon?" Another asked as Ryo nodded.
"Then where are your wings?" Ryo had forgotten about his lack of wings for a moment.
"I don't know. They were removed somehow, when I came here." One laughed, much to Ryo's irritation.
"We hardly believe that. You are one of us now."
"No he is not. He is flawless. We are not. We must make him like us." Ryo yelped as they leapt at him, trying to remove one of his limbs. He flung them away, one smashing into the glass mirror, causing it to shatter, and to Ryo's happiness, a door was what the mirror had been hidden. He quickly leapt through the door, and raced down the empty corridor. He could hear the dolls behind him, and he quickened his pace. He was pretty sure that the horrid little things would follow him wherever he went, so he had to remember to keep on his toes. Finally, he reached another room, and to him annoyance, was in a room full of mirrors. Everywhere he looked, he saw tiny dolls reflecting off the mirrors. With annoyance, he gave up. Time to use magic. He tried to cast a fire spell on the tiny things, but his magic didn't work either. His eyes widened as he remembered that his wings were gone. And that he had been running slower then normal. Then it hit him. He couldn't do magic because he was… was… human!
~~~***~~~
He had begun to run not that long ago. 10 minutes. Zechs had been very smug when he had appeared out of nowhere to warn Rowen that Sage had fallen asleep in the room, and only 10 minutes remained till the elf was no more. Rowen couldn't recall the way to the mountain, especially because he had been presented with a totally different set of obstacles then before. He had had to cross a valley, and after having gotten to the bottom, found that a bridge had appeared at the top. He had then had to climb back again, and cross the bridge. He had crossed a swamp, on logs, and after having passed, a vine that he could have swung on appeared on the other side. These people just had to make this difficult. Finally, after running out of breath, he reached the cabin in the woods. He burst through the door, and saw the couple there once more.
"I see you have made it back. 2 minutes left. Mukara will test you know." Naria stated as Rowen turned to the white haired man.
"Shoot."
~~~***~~~
"Where could they be keeping Sage?" Cye wondered out loud having calmed down considerably from the shambled mess he had been before.
"I have no clue. I guess we better just keep looking. I mean, he is around her somewhere, and the time is running out. How long do we have anyways?" Kento asked as Cye shrugged. It was then, with a flash of light that Zechs appeared.
"Why, you have no chance of saving your friend. You have two minutes, and the only one who can even get to him is the prince."
"Rowen's the only one who can get to him?" Cye questioned loudly as Zechs laughed.
"Yes! That is the fun of it!"
"Then why are we even here?" Kento demanded, his squeaky voice going even higher in pitch. So high that Cye covered his ears.
"You are here for amusement! I bet you wish to know how little Ryo is faring. He's facing one of his worst fears at the moment." Zechs laughed once more.
"Don't you dare hurt Ryo!" Cye warned, anger filling his voice.
"Aww, is the Master worried about his slave?" Cye glared.
"He is not my slave!"
"Then why does he call you that?" Cye thought for a moment.
"Because I created him!" Zechs laughed as a picture of Ryo formed on the walls.
"Where are his wings?" Cye asked in horror as he watched Ryo kick a headless doll away from him.
"Why Summoner, we couldn't let him use his magic could we? That makes everything far to easy. So, I decided for the fun of it to take them away. As long as he is here and playing this game, he is human." Cye groaned.
"But how do you expect him to fight back?" Kento demanded as Zechs smiled to the fairy.
"As he is. With his bare fists. And feet. He can fight you know. He doesn't HAVE to use magic. He is very capable of defending himself. It was a pity actually. You were already human, I'm afraid. I couldn't take your powers away form you. If you weren't the Summoner, I think your adventure would have been quite different. Oh well, I tried. At least one of you will die."
"Sage?" Cye asked, remembering that he couldn't help the blonde elf.
"Do you wish to see your friends?" Zechs said, as a picture on the wall appeared, showing Rowen talking to a dark-skinned man with bleach white hair, along with a woman with hair that matched the princes.
"Rowen! You better save Sage!" Kento warned as they watched the other boy.
~~~***~~~
"There are 20 snakes, 10 humans, five cats, 3 dogs, one horse, two cows, and one spider. How many legs are there?" Rowen smiled. Math. He could do that. He calculated quickly. Spider, 8 legs, 20 from the humans, 20 from the cats, 12 from the dogs, 4 from the horse, and 8 from the cows.
"72." He grinned as the other man nodded.
"One minute." Naria warned as Rowen nodded.
"What was the first thing you said when you met Sage?" Rowen cursed to himself. He was hurt, Sage had found him.
"Help." Rowen stated as again the boy nodded. Naria held up her fingers, blinking them 3 times. 30 seconds left.
"What is the most important thing to you in the world?" The boy asked. Rowen watched as the woman showed him the seconds ticking away using her fingers. 20. 19. 18. 17. 16. 15. 14. 13. 12. 11. 10. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3.
"Sage!" He blurted out as Mukara smiled.
"You pass." Rowen's vision went black for less then a second, when cold rushed over him. He looked over at Sage's form.
"Sage!" He exclaimed. 2. 1. He grabbed the blonde. 0.
The last grain of sand fell through the glass.
"No!" Zechs cried out.
Rowen held Sage's limp body in his arms, as the room flashed.
Cye, Ryo and Kento stood before Rowen. Cye in armor, Ryo as a clown, the tiny doll once again in his hand, his wings threatening to rip the cloth of his outfit. Rowen now soaked from his first tumble in the lake, Sage clad in the thin clothes, nestled in Rowen's arms.
Sage's eyes fluttered open.
"Sage!" The group cried out.
They had beaten the game.
To be continued…
OK, I know, short chapter. But what can I say, this was purely for Zech's and my amusement. Right Zechsy baby?
Zechs: /*Glare*/
Sorry ShadowMoon! Zechs was a bad boy, but he wasn't THAT bad! I actually do have another story where I venture there, but its nowhere near finished, and its Sage/Ryo. It was a fluke, I am a die-hard Sage/Rowen fan. But I'll write the others if I want, or am in the mood to be weird (First yaoi I ever wrote is Cye/Sage). Well, I've been trying to write as much as I could, since it is the weekend and I actually have time to work my butt off on this. And as always, it is time for me to go work on "The Others". Well, bye bye till later!