Chapter 5:
Players Cast Together
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It takes him 3.5 seconds to call up the memory of the portal appearing right under his feet.
2.1 seconds to realize the portal was a spacial wormhole activated by a power fluctuation in his flight belt.
1.8 seconds to realize he's on another world.
And 7.2 seconds for him to start laughing with joy.
I'm gone! I'm finally off that stagnant little snooze-trap! I'm free! I'm free! I'm...lost.
Well, shouldn't be a problem. After all, he's Jack Cole. Adventurer(at least potentially) and member of the a race that, for all intents and purposes, stands above all others on the evolutionary ladder. Otherwise, they're a boring bunch of sops to the degree that Jack's tried to run away many times before.
"Well, might as well get my bearings," he muses, climbing to his feet and dusting off his jacket.
A quick use of his mind powers pinpoints a town about a mile from here. And so Jack begins his walk towards a new life.
Myria...?
Somehow, Ryu recognizes the name. The Goddess Myria, the Great Enemy, the Brood-Killer.
He felt apprehension when he realized Galen was a Guardian. A servant to the Goddess and slayer of dragons...wait, how did he know Guardians were dragon-slayers? That's ancient history...
And he's not sure who to side with, seeing the two women...sister deities, to be exact...glaring at each other, the snake-people standing a good, far distance away.
"I made it clear to you and your stone-cast marital aid never to come here, sister," Deis growls, eyes glowing dark violet, "It's over between us."
"There are more important things than our petty differences, Deis."
"You imprisoned me for five hundred years! That wasn't easy to get over!", Deis snaps, and waves a warning figure, "And don't think that I didn't try."
"If you two would kindly stop arguing," Garr states, "I think we have more pressing issues."
Deis turns to him, then back to Anna.
"Alright," she says rolling her eyes, "Let me guess, Ryu and Nina, right?"
Garr nods.
"Well, they're older this time. We get on a late start? He's usually only fifteen by the time he comes around to me."
"They were away from the main civilizations until they were nineteen, Deis," Anna explains, walking over to Deis's side, whispering, "Civilization came to them."
"Hm...mother or father?"
"Father."
"Hm...both?"
"They were raised together."
"Odd. Usually they don't meet for a while."
"They found him at ten years."
"Ah..."
Deis nods, walking over to the couple.
"Ryu, Nina," she says, "I am Deis, the most powerful sorceress in the world...and someone you two are going to become quite familiar with."
A swing of the metal-toed boot stuns Erik, giving Jansen the moment he needs to roll away, his vision swimming as he draws his sword.
"A...alright," he croaks, "Why...the Hell...are you after me?"
"Playing dumb doesn't suit you," Erik growls, aiming his crossbow at Maroen's chest, "Now, you want to die standing, or lying down? Because if you want the first option, I suggest you attack now. I'm out of practice and my trigger finger's feeling itchy."
Jansen snarls, swinging his sword back...and prompy collapses to the ground, stabbing the sword into his side as he falls.
Erik walks over, nudging him with his foot. Nothing.
He's unconscious.
"Ladon damn it," he mutters, "I can't kill an unconscious man..."
He groans, picking up the fallen commander, hefting him over his shoulder as he walks to the forest exit.
"...you see, there's always some sort of problem in the world," Deis says, her four 'guests' sitting with her around a low-legged table, on their knees and sitting on cusions inside a large hutt, "Power corrupts. It's the absolute truth. When a clan gains power, it also gains self-importance, and that results in them being really, really pissy about things. And that's where your problem comes from."
"Is that who attacked us?", Ryu asks, "Those people were from another clan?"
"Yep. Also a manipulative one, to.", Deis responds, "From what I've been told, they've been manipulating the Yggdrasil. That sounds bad."
"Yggdrasil?", Nina asks, "It's real?"
"More than real. The Yggdrasil is the sentient embodiment of all plant-life on the planet," Deis responds, "And, considering we have some plant-life in our bodies, it can control us, to. And if something can control even an aspect of ol'Yggy, that spells trouble with a capital C."
Galen nods, sighing.
"Another Cycle. Wonderful. Deis, do you know anything about who the enemy is?"
"It's another Empire. Not exactly nice guys, but their leader has a shred of hope. He's no Zog, but I'm betting Zog's his role model. However, considering we don't have a Tyr around, this has me worried. Zog's wishes were at least going to be benevolent. He wanted peace and absolute power for his people, to make them gods and watch over Aspira. I'm guessing the present Emperor doesn't have those lofty morals."
Anna nods, folding her hands in front of her face.
"We'll need to continue to Parim," she says, "We will need allies. We need to gather the other participents of this Cycle."
"Good idea...and I can sense one participant has arrived, which you will want to seek out..."
Deis quickly dismissed the younger two, leaving her alone with Anna and Galen. Which Nina is thankful for. She could just feel the tension between the sisters. And didn't want to be there when it snapped.
So Nina simply sits, outside of one of the huts, watching the snake-men go about their work, completely ignoring her as long as she does not get in their way.
"Nina?"
She turns as she sees Ryu walking over to her, standing in front of her. She pats the ground next to her, and he sits down, Nina turning from the snake men to her friend.
"I think I owe you an explanation.", she says.
He nods, folding his hands in front of him.
"Nina, what did Mom say to you?"
"That Dad brought me home when I was just a baby," she responds, "That they decided to raise me since then."
"Just like me."
She nods, sighing, placing her hand on his.
"I don't love them any less," she says, "They raised us, didn't they?"
He nods, smiling slightly.
"Yeah. So, that's why you came along? To find out who your parents are?"
"Maybe. But mainly just to make sure you come back safe and sound."
He smiles, laughing slightly, Nina resting her head on his shoulder...
And the largest hut in the village explodes in a display of gold and indigo light.
Galen sits on the still-intact chair at the epicenter of the explosion as Anna's wings fully expand, covering a distance as wide as the former hutt, Deis having changed her legs into a snake tail.
He sighs, holding his head in his hand, shaking his head as the two goddesses stare down each other.
"You little bitch!", Deis spats, "I'm the threat? Me, the one who's been in these cycles helping those people for as long as you've been the enemy?"
"At least I stick with my goals!", Anna/Myria snaps, her usually peaceful demeanor long gone, "I only wanted to bring peace, while you were just bored!"
"At least I kept to a side!"
"At least I didn't hold myself up with a tribe of eunichs!"
"At least I don't sleep with my help!"
Myria screams, lunging at Deis, taking the two down as she claws at her face, Deis converting her tail to her legs and kicking at her sister.
Galen sighs, looking skyward as the argument between his wife and sister-in-law degrades into a depowered catfight, the two rolling on the ground as slaps, gouges, kicks and bites are exchanged, both of them screaming out curses at each other.
"Slut!"
"Bitch!"
"Primadona!"
"Jackbooted prig!"
Galen stands up, changing to Garr, summoning his spear in a burst of flame...and thrusting it down between them, seperating them and catching their hair to the ground.
"We have a job to do," he growls, "So I really...really think you two should stop this."
Anna sighs, pulling her hair from the ground, standing up as her wings fold back into her shoulders.
"You're right, Galen.", she says, dusting off her dress, "At least one of us has some priorities straight."
Garr nods, returning to human form as Deis rises, folding her arms.
"Good point," she says.
Anna nods, smiling, turning to walk away...
"And I still think you're desperate," Deis adds.
And Anna turns, punching Deis right across the jaw, sending the goddess reeling back...before she screams, lunching at her sister and taking her down as they continue their fight...
Ryu sighs, shrugging, placing an arm around the ashen Nina.
"We were never like that."
The next morning.
Jack rustles through his pockets, groaning as he finds them nearly empty except for a pair of gold pressed coins. Wouldn't even buy him a burger back home...
He looks around the town, a small, rural village called Parim by it's inhabitants.
Nice place. Some paved roads, but mostly soft dirt. The people are mostly wolves that walk upright but wear some clothing, usually just pants and a vest, and some humans who are indistinguishable from him.
The houses are all one or two stories, and the sparse population keeps plenty of room. Not like back home. There, overpopulation was solved by adding more and more levels. Just plain ugly.
Here, it's beautiful. Trees everywhere, even some shrines around them. Have to look up why those're there. And, most importantly, everyone's genuinely nice to him. At least, for the most part.
He sighs, again, walking into one of the houses with a sword on a plaque above the door.
The bell rings as the door opens, a greying hard wolf-man looking up from a book and standing up behind the counter.
"Welcome, sir.", he says, "How may I be of service?"
"Uh...hi," Jack says, walking to the counter, "What's the best way I can earn money around here?"
"Animal and monster hides," the shopkeeper responds, "You bring in the hides, I give you gold in return."
"Then I guess I'll need a weapon, huh?"
"Yes."
"Great...what can I get for these?"
He lays the coins on the table, looking up as the shopkeeper disappears...and rises back up behind the counter with a longsword.
"For fifty zenny? This will do," the shopkeeper responds, "You know how to handle it?"
You kidding? I have the swashbuckler routine memorized.
"Sure thing," Jack says, "Animal hides, right? For clothing?"
"Yes, especially with winter in two months."
"Got it."
He picks up the sword, and walks out. Nice blade, good weight, just like the replicas.
Could use a few improvements, though...
Two hours later.
Jack walks back into town, grunting and sweating as he hauls a net behind him.
And in the net are fifty different hides, shells, horns, and bones.
The shopkeeper opens the door, looking out...and his jaw drops, his eyes going wide behind his bifocals.
"Hey, shopkeep!", Jack yells, hefting the net over his shoulder, "How much'll this get me?"
Anna's demeanor returned the moment they left the forest village, back to her sunny, sweet personality as soon as they stepped on the road.
Galen, for one, was relieved. After breaking up the fight between Anna and Deis for the fifth time, he was started to get tired.
Ryu and Nina had fallen asleep somewhere between the second and third fight, and basically found the entire thing somewhere between humorous(Ryu) and frustrating(Nina). And the people of the village just found it to be a mess.
And so, three hours after they left the village, they find themselves at the entrance to Parim, the small little village that serves as a waypoint to Windia.
"We can look into things with the village chief. He knows us," Anna says, "If things begin to drag on, we'll stay here tonight. The innkeeper will give us a discount and Galen and I aren't strapped for zenny."
Galen looks up at the sky, spotting the sun's position.
"It is noontime," he says, "We'll find lunch and start our search. Will you two join us?"
He turns to Ryu and Nina, folding his arms.
"Um...we'll meet up," Ryu says.
Galen nods, smirking, taking a small point and tossing it to the young man.
"Meet us later, then.", he says, and he and Anna walk off.
Zenny. The monetary system, at least in this section of the world, is called Zenny. One zenny is equivalent to two-thirds a credit back home, as thirty zenny gets him a night at the inn, ten zenny gets him a good meal.
And those hides got him twenty-five hundred zenny. So he's pretty well off, and that was two hours work.
This is good.
Jack smiles to himself, walking around the town marketplace in his jacket, adjusting the dial on the inside of it to cool himself off. Jacket-mounted air conditioners. If his people can be credited for anything truly great, that would have to be it. Bloody geniuses.
He raises an eyebrow, looking around, watching as a middle-aged man and a woman talk over lunch, the man rather stern while the woman doesn't bat an eyelash.
With his parents, if Dad became stern, Mom would snap and dinner would end up being an event.
Which is probably another reason he bolted.
He sighs, looking about...and smiles, widely.
He sees a beautiful, blonde haired, winged woman in travelling clothes, talking with one of the food peddlers, shaking an empty sack in a sign that she's out of money.
Hello, Angel...
He walks over, reaching into his pocket, taking out a ten zenny piece as the woman gets flustered. He smiles to her, and hands the peddler the piece.
"I'll take care of that," he says, "Keep the change."
The peddler nods to him, turning back to his wares, and the woman turns to him.
"Thank you," she says, smiling.
He smiles...and all that comes out is babble as she turns and quickly walks back to a blue-haired man waiting for her.
Smooth, Jack. Let's measure your shoe size so we can see if your foot fits in your mouth.
He groans, shrugging.
Oh, well. Looks like she was taken. Hey, you're done here anyways. After getting that much money, looks doubtful that the shopkeep'll accept anymore skins.
"Where's the nearest town?", he asks the peddler, the human turning to him as he slices apart a small roast.
"Windia, half a day's walk.", he responds, "Can't miss it. Real big castle at the center of town."
The peddler grunts as the roast refuses to budge, clasping his hands together and uttering something. A beam of white intersects the meat, parting it as Jack looks on, dumbfounded.
The man turns to him, raising an eyebrow.
"What's with you? Looks like you've never seen magic before."
Magic, huh? Looks like I'm at a disadvantage...
"Y-yeah. Sure I have," Jack says, shrugging, "What, do I look that green?"
He chuckles, walking out the town gates. And as soon as he's out of sight, his eyes flash white, and he flies towards his next destination.
Chapter 6:
Wings to Fly On
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"Your behavior in the village was atrocious."
Anna nods at Galen's statement, sipping her water as the two sit at the table, under the shade of a nearby tree.
"I'm very much aware," she says, "Being around Deis does that to me."
"You two could have leveled that place...you did level that place. If it degraded past a squabble and into a battle we could have all been killed."
"I know," she responds, "But I'm not like that now, am I? Just keep me away from Deis and I'll be fine."
Galen sighs, setting his fork down on the empty plate.
"No matter what you believe, neither you nor Deis are all powerful. We will need both of you to come out of this in one piece."
"We went through the last one fine."
"Hn, I know...but I have a bad feeling about this one..."
"Krysten, buddy, give me the map."
The green haired woman shakes her head, snatching away the map before the large grey hands can reach it, blowing a tuft of hair out of her eyes. The plains-clan man next to her groans, rolling his head back.
Anyone passing by the busy market streets would notice the two.
The stunningly beautiful, conservatively dressed green-haired woman, and the plains-clan farmer, an eight foot tall armadillo, travelling with her like an indentured servant.
"I know where we're going," she responds with a hint of exasperation in her voice, "We're supposed to go to Windia, and we are in Windia!"
"Where in Windia?!", he demands, throwing out his massive, thick arms, "We're in the town, yes! A town that has a population in the six digits and we're supposed to find a certain house?!"
She stares at him, her eyes shifting from blue to yellow and back to blue.
"Look, I can translate this.", she says, "You can't. So stop criticizing me, OK?"
He looks over her shoulder, narrowing his eyes.
"What is that word?", he asks.
"Which one?"
He points to the upper left.
"Rhapala.", she says, "It's an ancient sea-clan noun meaning 'King City'. Meaning, of course, the capital city of the area, Windia."
He stands upright, walking to the city wall.
And begins slamming his head against it, over and over.
"Arbuk?", she asks, "Dearie, what's wrong?"
"Rhapala is a city!", he snaps.
She folds the map, raising an eyebrow.
"You're sure of that?"
"Yes! Yes!!", he yells, "It's a city four days walk from here that's a seaport, like on the map!!!"
She bites her lip, sighing.
"Oh, well. Even I make mistakes."
She shrugs.
"We'll get a room and start our way there tomorrow."
She grabs his hand, pulling him along, nearly pulling him off his feet as she brings him to the thick of the marktplace.
Galen and Ryu walk out from the town, Anna talking with Nina in the Parim marketplace as the Guardian leads the young man away.
"Ryu, there is something that concerns me," Galen says, "What do you know of your past?"
"Other than Nina's parents taking me in, nothing.", Ryu responds, shrugging, "Why?"
"Do you know how to use a weapon?"
"Um...just a fishing rod."
"A broadsword? A rapier? A longsword?"
"Can't say, no."
Galen nods, walking over to a nearby tree and snapping off a long branch.
He walks over, tossing it to Ryu.
"We'll see."
He runs at Ryu, changing into Garr, summing his spear and bringing it down on Ryu's head.
Ryu blocks with the branch, sidestepping, spinning and swinging the branch like a sword into Garr's spearshaft.
Garr brings the butt of the spear up, Ryu jumping off, hopping off the spearblade and thrusting the branch forward...and locking it on Garr's spear handle.
The two freeze, Garr's eyes dimly glowing, Ryu's eyes wide-open with shock.
"Now," Garr says, "How did you do that?"
"I...instinct?"
"Instinct does not have us do advanced combat techniques," Garr responds, his spear disappearing in a plume of smoke, "There is much mystery to you, Ryu. I say that we find the answers to these questions."
He reverts to Galen, taking the branch from Ryu's hands and tossing it away.
"That's enough for today," he says, "We'll spend the night in Parim. I think we should take time to think about this."
Ryu nods, and follows Galen back to the town.
Now this is more like it.
Jack already has an appreciation for Windia.
Throbbing masses of people going about their business, a diversity of different species of people walking around.
Chaos. Pure, utter, chaos. But a benign chaos, a chaos that promotes growth.
This is the sort of thing he's been looking for. Paved stones under his feet, beautiful blue skies above his head, houses built like a fantasy novel, out of wood and stone and tile and windmills as far as the eye can see.
And a massive, white-stoned castle overlooking it all.
"Perfect," he says, walking to a produce stand, "Just perfect..."
"I'm glad you enjoy our town."
He looks to his right...and smiles.
The speaker is yet another beautiful woman, wings coming from her shoulders like the woman in Parim. Although, considering the majority of people he's seen so far have similar wings, this should be no shock.
But something about the woman seems to draw him in. The eyes. Blue-green eyes, twinkling ever so slightly as he stares.
"Yeah," he responds, "It's a nice place."
"I rarely hear compliments about the city from visitors," she says, smiling, "Usually people complain about the noise, about the crowds, even about the smallest things such as a crack in a worn paving stone."
"People take what they have for granted," he says with a grin, "I just treat everything like a new experience."
He extends his hand, smiling.
"My name's Jack. Jack Cole," he says.
She takes his hand, blushing deeply as he raises her hand to his lips.
"It was a pleasure, Jack.", she says, "I should be going."
She takes her hand back, smiling as she walks back to five armored winged men, who escort who down the street and to the castle.
Jack smiles, turning back to the produce stand...and cocks his head, seeing the seller stone-faced and still. He stares at the man for a few minutes, inspecting the plum-like gold fruit in the stand, picking up three and placing them on the counter.
No response. As much as he hates the culture he came from, Jack still knows stealing is not a good idea.
"Something wrong?", he asks, snapping his fingers in front of the man's eyes.
The man jumps, his wings ruffling.
"Do you know who that was?", the merchant demands.
"Nope. Shame, to. Never got a name."
"That was Queen Kayla!", the merchant responds, "Oh, dear..."
"What's the biggie?"
"She is all but-"
Jack snaps his head up as he hears a scream, bolting off to the direction of the castle.
"...engaged."
Kayla pulls at her collar involuntarily, her body suddenly hot, her wings ruffling not on her own will.
He kissed her hand. No warning, no prompting. The man probably didn't even know who she was and he still kissed her hand.
How...romantic.
She smiles to herself.
Romance is the last thing she ever expected. Her suitor never relied on that, only relying on threats to herself and her people. Her position never mandated it. It was completely, absolutely unexpected.
And by the name not, completely, absolutely delightful...
"Your Majesty?"
She turns to the lead guard, smiling faintly.
"Yes, Gerich?"
"There are people at the gate."
She stops in her tracks, the other guards stopping with her, the elder soldier taking lead.
At the gate to the castle are four men, each in grey-and-black armor, wide, long swords at their sides.
"Agniyan soldiers," Gerich mutters, walking forward, "This is the property of Her Majesty. State your business."
One of them nods, pulling off his helmet, revealing a head of thick red hair.
"I come with a message from His Majesty Joshua," he says, Kayla's heart jumping at the name, "His Majesty demands the Queen comes with us."
"Unacceptable," Gerich responds, "She has been given two weeks!"
"His Majesty wishes to see her."
The soldier draws his sword, the other foreign soldiers chuckling.
Kayla shakes her head, clenching her eyes shut. She dares not think was sick mind-game Joshua has planned for her tonight.
"Now, stand aside, old soldier," the agniyan says, "No need for bloodshed."
Gerich reaches for his sword's hilt...
But the foreigner is faster, crossing the distance in an eyeblink and plunging his sword through Gerich's chest.
The man smiles, pulling the sword out, letting the elder windian fall at Kayla's feet.
And Kayla screams.
Her guards reach for their swords, finding them blown away by simple force spells from the agniyans as the leader raises his sword to Kayla's chin.
"Now, Your Majesty," he says, "Care to see anyone else die today, or shall we go?"
He grins, darkly, eyes flashing bright green...
And his sword compresses on itself, the blade folding back until it's a wound piece of metal on the hilt.
He gives off a surprised yelp as his armor comes to life, the joints fusing, the metal becoming skintight and immobile, the crotch becoming particularly tight and making him yelp.
Until his armor becoming nothing more than a metal casing, keeping him in place light a iron statue.
"That's no way to treat a lady."
Kayla gives off a relieved breath as Jack Cole walks by her, walking over to the agniyan soldier as the red-haired man struggles to even turn his head on the airtight collar.
Jack pushes on the armor, the agniyan screaming as he tips over, falling on his side with a thud, the windian soldiers trying to keep back a satisfied chuckle.
"Your boys need to be taught some manners, sweet-cheeks.", Jack says, turning to the surprised foreigners, "Here."
He extends his hand, the air rippling as a sphere of psychokinetic force forms, growing to nearly a good foot in diameter.
"Catch."
He tosses it at them, the agniyans watching in wonder...and the sphere detonates, a wave of force tossing them about.
"I can still do a few more," Jack says as the soldiers struggle to their feet, "My reserves run real deep. Now get the ladies man and get out, before we see just how deep your armor goes when I crunch it into a ball and shove it down your throats."
One of them chants something, the four disappearing in a burst of yellow.
"Why didn't they do that in the first place?", Jack asks.
"I...I've been taught certain magic shields. They've been with me since birth."
She goes down to her knees, cradling Gerich's head, the elder groaning as his armor becomes slick with blood.
"Oh Ladon, Gerich...", she whispers, tears forming in her eyes, "Get a healer."
One of the guards nods, running to the castle as Jack kneels down next to her.
"Let me," he says, placing his hand on Gerich's chest.
He closes his eyes to hide the white glow, sending tendrils of invisible energy to the wound, reknitting the blood vessels, repairing the tear in the heart. Within seconds, it's over, the damage of the wound at least sealed until a professional healer can work on it.
Jack smiles, Gerich groaning, opening his eyes.
"Your Majesty," he says, "Are-"
"They're gone, Gerich," she says, smiling shakily, looking over to Jack, "We have someone to thank for it."
She nods to the other soldiers, the three helping up Gerich and carrying him in.
She smiles, beaming, wrapping her hand around his own.
"Thank you," she says.
"It's something I was taught. I thought it would be handy."
"It was...thank you, again. You saved his life."
He nods, climbing to his feet.
"Well, I should be going, then...", he says, as she rises up.
Their eyes meet, briefly, Kayla looking down as Jack starts to turn.
"Come with me," she finally says.
"Hm?"
"Come with me," she responds, reaching out and taking his hand, "I'll not see you wandering about your way after doing something like that. I owe you my life and his."
"You...you do?", he asks with a befuddled expression, "Oh...you do. What were those people?"
"An annoyance. Bullies who enjoy their power too much," she says with a repentent sigh, "There's something different about you, isn't there?"
"Well..."
"Then you can tell me over dinner," she says, smiling, "I can repay you at least that much."
He smiles, nodding.
She turns, to drag him back in...and he pulls her back, bringing her hand up to her lips, rewarded with the same deep blush.
"It would be my pleasure, Your Majesty.", he says.
She smiles, giggling like a schoolgirl, and leads him in through the castle gates.
Far, far away.
A tomb buried deep within the earth, a place where a relic is stored.
Radria Asmidaeth walks along the marble halls, her young face heavy with burden, wrinkles edging her mouth from the long hours since she realized what is wrong.
She walks along the temple halls, through the final door to the torch-lit, altar chamber.
"Arcadies," she says.
The ancient man at the altar turns, nodding.
"You see it to, don't you?", he asks with a heavy accent.
"Yes. I do. Is it the end?"
He sighs, closing his eyes.
"No, my apprentice," he responds, "It is only the beginning."
"But you know what this means, do you not?"
"Yes indeed...I know it is him."
He turns back to the altar, clasping his hands in prayer.
"Ladon help us, they succeeded," he continues, "He is the Kaiser Dragon."