Yuki: CCS does not belong to me and this is probably the longest chapter.
Vash: I thought the last one...oh no, Yuki!
Yuki: I thought you liked long ones. You said Jewel Quest was too short a story.
Vash: And this one is how many pages?
Yuki: Only 9
Vash: Only?
Yuki: I really like this one, so please read, all right?
The Strange, the Lonely, and the Beautiful
Vash, who was shaking me furiously, wakened me up. He stopped a moment later and I opened my eyes, seeing him trying to wake everyone else up too. Doughboy stood by the door and Kelli was helping.
"What's going on?" I managed to croak, my throat being so dry.
"We're going to attack." Vash said. "Yes Yuki, during the night." I reached for my glass of water.
"Wow." Nakita said. Nearby, Kanari shifted and sat up in her bed.
"And in what clothes?" She mumbled.
"Whatever you can find." Vash said, leaving the room. "Clay the Elder and the rest of the army have been notified. They're coming with us and-"
"Wait, you mean Clay the Elder is coming too?" Snowy asked. Vash paused in the doorway.
"Well, technically, yes." He said. Vash lowered his voice. "Clay the Elder was known as the deadliest archer in his time. I don't know if he still has the touch (Vash's eyes strayed off and he trailed off for a while) but he is determined to see this battle."
"Then we better make it a good one!" I said, throwing a fist into the air. Vash disappeared and Kelli pushed Doughboy out of the room.
"They have to CHANGE." She said.
We didn't really have many clothes. Except for the dresses given to us (those fluffy, elegant dresses that we went shopping for herbs in), which were in the huge closet in the room, and Rene's costumes (somehow they had popped up on us in the middle of battle and we had found our usual clothes all cleaned in the closet, we also had nightgowns, but that was practically it.
"I don't think we should fight in those costumes." Kanari said.
"Why not?" Rene asked.
"Well, it's all right." Kanari said. "Just, I don't know, something wrong with it."
"I think it might be the self-consciousness." I said. "I think I'd feel better if I wore my ordinary clothes, and looked like an ordinary kid than wearing a battle (looks at Rene's costumes) clothes. I mean, they're great and all, but I just think they might be a distraction."
"It might help us think and feel better about ourselves." Nakita offered. "And they're probably more comfortable."
"You're right." Rene said, giving in. Pulling a red sweater over her neck, she looked over Dwarf Land out the window. "I wonder how could it's going to be?" She wore black pants. Running a comb through her hair, she was the first out the door.
Kanari was second, dressed in a yellow striped sweater. I changed into a green shirt, plopped on a hat, and was about the last one out when I suddenly spotted Nakita in a corner.
She had her blue jacket on, as usual. It was a soft, baby blue colored jacket. When she finished dressing, she picked up Cherry and headed towards the door. I smiled sadly.
Vash was in the library when we entered, along with Kelli. Kelli was reading something out of a book and Vash was dipping this sword in something. Then he stuck the sword out to the fire, turned it over, and held it in the air to cool. Kelli took whatever was left in the cup Vash dipped it in and poured it into a burgundy bottle. We watched, astonished, until Vash stuck his sword into the sheath and headed towards the door.
"What was that?" Liz asked.
"Poison." Vash said. His eyes were deadly.
As soon as we got outside, I felt disappointed. I didn't know what I was expecting, perhaps some greetings, but all I saw were Clay the Elder and something white. I thought maybe it was a ghost. Mr. Clay and the General of the Army had already started moving, since we could travel faster than they could. The white thing turned out to be a great, flying horse. Clay the Elder climbed onto it's back and gave it a lump of what could've been sugar.
"All ready?" Clay the Elder grinned at the nervous faces. "C'mon, this is the battle of our lives, something to be cherished!"
"And we shall come out as heroes." Vash added.
"All right, I'll lead." Clay the Elder patted the horse's neck and it started to fly. I gazed at the flying beast for a second before I realized the others had sprouted their wings. Rene was seating Liz, while Kanari and Snowy dragged Doughboy along (he had his bubble out, but it was too slow). Kelli was up by Clay the Elder.
"Hey Yuki!" Nakita called. I was watching the others in the sky when I turned to look at her. She was floating in the air, her two hands on Vash's arm. "Help me."
"I could use a lift, you know." Vash said.
"Oh, sorry." I said, running over to help. We started to fly towards our destination.
We must've flown quite a long time. What I remember most about that journey are the endless times Vash checked that pocket watch. It was silver now, though. Vash said it was because of the dwarf air.
At last, when we got to the hatch, we could see the last of the men crawling out of Dwarf's Land and into the jungle by the forest.
"Vash, directions?" Clay the Elder asked. Vash murmured,
"I've gotta learn to fly somehow." And ordered us to get him up front. "All right, this is what will happen." Vash grinned. Somehow, it made us all feel better. "We're going to try to get into the castle without anyone knowing where we came from. Who cares if they see us? Our destiny is to destroy every one of them here tonight. Rene, when it's time to signal for the guards, I'll tell you, and shoot several Golden Rings into the air. That should be easy to spot." Rene nodded. "Let's go." Vash put his hand out. Nakita and I (straining to keep him afloat with one hand only, he was practically abutted on us) put our hands over it, joined by Kanari, Snowy, Liz, Doughboy, Rene, Kelli, and then, slowly, Clay the Elder. He chuckled.
"Seems I'll never grow old, or out of my adventures." He smiled. "Someday, I reckon, I'll have to tell you of all my boyhood dreams and doings." We all looked at each other with smiles on our faces.
"Let's go." Vash repeated.
It was like a flash, as we surged up past the ladder and into the cold, night air. A soldier placed the circle of grass back into place. We were on top of the forest.
It didn't take much work to fly across the castle without being seen. The guards were injured from last time and there was a lack in workers. We landed in the dome. Creaking open a door, Vash peered into the dark hallway.
"I reckon we should just shoot a missile." Kero said. He was still on top of my hat, where he had been the whole journey. Anora had been in Kelli's hands. A dormant Cherry lay tucked in Nakita's jacket, with her head peeping out.
"Release." A couple of voices whispered. With our weapons ready, I decided to grant Kero the first shot of this battle. Turning him into Cerberus quickly, I let him free.
"Missile Launcher." He said, towards the open door. There was the sound of a million bullets, echoing into the dark hallway. Suddenly, the lights snapped on in the whole dome.
"They've been expecting us?" Liz asked, frightened.
"Somewhat." One of the guards said. They entered, and we saw that it was just a couple of guards. Then the other door opened a few minutes later, and we saw Galdius rushing in, with a flag, followed by knights and the remaining army, lined up in position. The last one to enter was a girl.
Lair flashed us her most charming smile and the dragon hissed.
I had a flashback.
"My dream!" I said.
Galdius lunged at Vash, and the two started to have a combat in the middle of the dome.
"That won't do!" Kelli said. "The rest of us have to fight here! Blow Hole!" She aimed it at the floor, and suddenly, the whole floor collapsed, sending everyone a few hundred feet down. We all lay in a pile of rubble.
"Smooth move, Kelli." Vash said, picking himself off of the floor. Galdius and Vash started to fight again, but in a more private quarter.
"I think we're in the basement." Kelli said. We heard a roar from above. The dragon was righting a one on one with Cerberus. Cerberus, the only one who had not fallen down, had challenged the great dragon. With Lair on it's back, it was deadly. I spread my wings and look a mighty leap upwards.
"Wait, Yuki!" Liz called. Ignoring her, I reached Cerberus.
The rest of the group down in the basement had already started to fight. Liz, with her rapier, pulled ruse after ruse and sliced many a person. Doughboy was hiding behind a crate, messing around with people's memories and having the time of his life. Rene was shooting a whole lot of Power Hoops (yes, the first few ere dangerous, but the rest of them were pretty well aimed) from her position in the air. Vash and Galdius were trying to outmatch each other. As Clay the Elder had expected, the rest of the crew, the guards and rest of the army had arrived (only about twenty people). He shot most of them with that deadly arrow, and the horse opened his mouth, allowing a shock bomb to come out and flatten out the top of the castle. The castle was being reduced to rubble.
"You'd think that the dwarf's would've wanted the castle." Snowy said, using her wand to bind people, belittle people, and do all sort of horrifying things to people. "But I guess they plan to build a new one."
"Yeah." Nakita said. "This one has too many bad memories." She was teamed up with Kanari, making people deaf and blind.
I was against Lair, a very deadly job.
"Watery Card, Release and Dispel!" I thrust the wand into the watery, and in a few minutes, the power of the card was ready.
"What can that do?" Lair asked, more in a mocking tone than anything.
"That." I snapped my fingers and the next second: Lair's face was all wet.
"Ooh!" Lair said and started saying a lot of gibberish, which I later realized was some sort of cussing. The dragon raised his head and sent a jet full of fire right at Cerberus and me.
"Missile Launcher." Cerberus had an easy target. However, the bullets just burned up.
"Ah!" I said. "Watery!" The Watery Card emerged right between the flames and us. After the fire was gone, I breathed a great sigh of relief. "We need to destroy this monster, and I'm not very good at destroying things." I whined.
"Freeze Card, Release and Dispel!" I called. The freeze card emerged and tried to freeze the monster. This didn't take long.
"Missile Launcher." Cerberus said for the third and last time. The missiles aimed for the frozen monster. I half expected it to crack the ice, but there was one great, huge cloud of dust and I saw the missiles stuck in the ice, unable to explode, piercing the dragon's skin, especially it's belly. It howled and blasted a stream of fire onto the wall by the done, setting it into flames and several objects (portraits, etc.) fell and became flaming balls of fire, headed right towards the basement!
"Watery!" I howled. The Watery went and demolished the fire, only sending a spray of debris down within. "Quick, Cerberus, aim your Rocket Blaster!" Cerberus followed my advice. The missile came out of his mouth and hit the dragon full force in its mouth. Then something astonishing happened.
I'm not sure how to describe it. It's more like the dead just disappeared into the air and split into a thousand pieces, while the frozen body shot out of the broken windows of the dome. Lair screamed, and within myself, aside from the white gruesomeness of the scene, I was strangely pleased. However, my duty was not done yet. Lair, who did not have wings, who had ever cared for wings, jumped down several hundred feet into the basement and sliced off a piece of someone else's arrow at the attempt to get everyone's attention. Cerberus dived in after her, and I, after confining the Watery and Freeze Cards and summoning the Sword, quickly followed.
Lair was an experienced swordsman, or woman, should I say. She tackled Kelli first, and the two were engaged in mortal combat. Lumbeus and the rest of the knights lay as brave men on the basement floor, while the battle still raged. Clay the Elder and the winged horse (an original Fereos) calmly reduced the rest of the castle to ashes and rubble.
"She's a tough one." Liz said. Rene blew up some crates, allowing them to see some other people hiding behind the crates. They were clearing the basement.
"You ought to be more careful about where you cut and slice and hit." Kelli said, dodging a blow from Lair, who was ducking from Anora's vicious claws. "Or else this whole basement could be flooded by blood." It was true. Blood was spewed all over the place, the walls, the floor, everywhere. While the last few men were hit and taken care of, Vash had taken the Blue Mist and made a clean cut along Galdius's arm. The poison leaked in. Galdius stumbled, flung his sword up in the air, and it, the sword flew several feet in the air: straight at Nakita.
"Nakita, watch out!" Vash lunged for her, knocking her out of the way. They crashed into several crates, which fell over and hit them. Snowy ran over and picked up the sword before anyone could object.
"Heavy." She said. Several armed people jumped out from the crates where Vash and Nakita had crashed into, but they were too slow. They were demolished within a second by those great Golden Rings.
"This battle is over." Vash said, emerging from the crates, dusting him up, followed by a badly shaken Nakita.
"Not so fast." The door slammed open; off its hinges, filled with light.
Light from a torch.
It was her, Queen Jewel. Who could've been worse? The most feared person who had ever raged the Fifth Dimension.
Her blue eyes were pale, almost as deadly as Vash's, but it had amusement to it, and it was followed by a chuckle. Galdius stood in a corner, his head down, and Lair and Kelli stood posed, swords were still, gazing at the monster before them. Queen Jewel stiffened, and reaching behind her, she deposited three figures: Eriol, Ariel, and Colton.
I stifled a cry. The three figures that had lead us all into this, that had caused all of this. Eriol was hardly awake, mumbling and rubbing his eyes. Ariel was looking around, seeming aware of the things around. But Colton, now, I almost felt sorry for him. He was curled up in a corner, licking his paws sadly. It broke my heart.
"Go ahead." Queen Jewel ordered. "Attack. What are you waiting for?"
Ariel stood up slowly, and withdrew her sword. I saw that she was dressed in quite shabby clothes: Just a plain old shirt with a black skirt. She looked almost human, and her eyes were tired. But as she looked around, she recognized the four of us. And the first one she lunged at was no other than Liz.
Engaged in battle, she was furious. Liz's hair was almost cut off in battle, and twice, if it had not been for Anora's attacks, Liz's mistakes could've been fatal. At this signal, Galdius, Vash, Kelli, and Lair all started to fight again. Eriol charged at Snowy, who outsmarted him by tying him up in with ribbons.
"And so, not for long." Queen Jewel said. Her voice was hardly above a whisper. "You have not even seen the REAL POWERS OF ME!" Her voice booming like thunder, she aimed her torch thing at us. It glowed and suddenly, I felt myself lifted clear of the ground, and then deposited straight into the sides of a few crates.
"Ow!" I cried as she made us fly around the room like a bunch of stuffed animals.
"Golden Rings!" Rene called, but Queen Jewel placed me in front of her.
"Ah, no!" I screamed. Vash ran up and reflected the attack with his sword, since he was not being controlled. It hit Lair in the jaw, sending her tumbling into Galdius, who groaned. The poison was getting to him. Snowy thrashed around with the sword, so we thought to stay clear of her. She somehow hit Eriol on the leg and the next second he was bleeding.
"Time to take it wild." Queen Jewel aimed her long stick with the claws and globe at the ground. Suddenly, with a swirl of colors, the ground seemed just to open up and swallow us in. The next second, all we could see was darkness. I was glad that Clay the Elder was not with us. I wasn't sure it he could handle all this, and I was glad that he was destroying the castle. Little did I know that while half of the dwarf's waited for that never to come signal, the other half were in the fields, beating up the Queen's men and setting the workers free, with a promise we'd come back for them.
As I looked around, I noticed for the first time that my green, straw hat was not on my head. In face, Queen Jewel was spinning it around in the air, surveying it.
"You leave that alone." I said, and felt myself being thrown backwards. I hit something solid, but the next minute, I could regain control of my wings and return to my friends.
"Her powers are just so unlimited." Vash said as we watched her play with different people. Lair, Eriol, Ariel, and Galdius returned to her side. Surprisingly, though, Colton took a position next to us. He smiled at Cerberus and attacked with the same missile launcher. That was enough for me. He was on our side.
I was so happy I wanted to go up and kiss him, but that could wait. Rene's attacks were useless against Queen Jewel, with nothing we could do. However, Nakita and Kanari could still attack. They had just enough time to make Ariel and Eriol deaf and blind when Queen Jewel put an end to it by wrapping them around a cord. Then she seemed to think it was a good idea and started to do that to all of us, but not before Rene got mad.
"Power Hoops!" The two shot out and hit Eriol and Ariel, smack in the face. They were reduced to nothing. Lair gasped. Galdius clutched at his arm.
"You think it's always a friendly battle, even against people who used to be your friends?" Vash demanded. Queen Jewel tied him up and stuffed something in his mouth. I rushed to cut the cords, but they wouldn't cut, and Nakita managed to pull out something furry out of Vash's mouth.
"Grr." I mumbled. "I want my hat back." I glared at Queen Jewel. She seemed to read my mind, and reached for it. "Don't you dare! Light Card, stop her from touching my hat!" The Light Card surged forward, while something dropped back into my hand. Ah, the Sword Card had turned back into a card when I used my wand. "Windy, get my hat back!" Windy lunged forward, bringing my hat back (though it wasn't much use, still). I shuffled through my cards.
"Use time." Cerberus said, aiming more missiles at Queen Jewel, who was trying to avoid the Light Card. Somehow, she was afraid of it. The missiles, plus Colton's, hit everything in it's path. Galdius, with all that pain and his wound, fainted. Lair screamed, a piercing scream, and started to sob. The Light Card disappeared from view, but came back once the missiles were gone.
"Sweet Card!" I summoned. The Sweet Card rushed forward and turned Queen Jewel's wand into a big, messy, warm, and chocolate bar. Queen Jewel was disgusted.
"You all think that you will win." She boomed. "But I will get you all. Ring of Death!" Vash's eyes expanded to the size of an egg, along with Kelli's.
"Her ultimate attack." They managed to croak.
We were trapped. The everlasting darkness approached us in a big circle, with no escape.
"You were always a strange kid, Vash." Queen Jewel said as the ring split and each one of us started to have an individual circle shrink towards us. I would have much rather just had one huge circle, it'd be more comforting, but Queen Jewel knew that, and she wanted this experience to be as crushing and ghastly as possible.
"You never wanted to do what the rest of the land wanted to do, you had your own ways and ideas, your own trainings and sessions, and I knew this was coming, someday." She said. "And yet, you were obedient. Very. Like a child, I suppose, you listened to everything. But you were a leader. So I guess it was YOU who stirred him on." She turned to Kelli. "Yes, you, you lonely little girl who used to wander the halls at night with a blanket and cry for momma. And when I came out you cried, and said I wasn't your mother. You were the smart one, all right, but not full of wits. You needed something to back you up, and your brother was mighty fine for that job. You were two awkward kids, you know, one strange and the other one lonely, always needing someone, what a balance." She chuckled. Kelli's temper boiled (and I tell ya, that was the first and last time I had ever seen it boil in that journey, she was such a good, spirited, young girl that I could hardly believe that a single word coming out of Queen Jewel's mouth was true and worthy of. But a glance at Kelli proved it so. Lair stood there, with a mocking gaze, mostly at Vash.
"Maybe what I lacked the most was the result of me being lonely." Kelli's voice cracked. "Maybe what I wanted the most was a mother, what you weren't and never were, however you pretended to be. Oh, I saw Queen Jewel, the way you acted could've fooled some, but not me. I knew from the start that you were not my mother, but the creator of something large, and perhaps the very person that destroyed my mother."
"How care you say that I have no, no, and well, how dare you well, at least you know that your mother is dead." Queen Jewel's eyes blazed. "Your mother." The mouth moved slightly. "Was my sister."
"No!" A cry emerged from deep within Kelli. Vash tried to comfort her, but he was as shocked himself.
"Not exactly sister." Queen Jewel. "I rather did like that scare. She was an orphan, and we found her from Genesis, the planet where I came from." Her voice was dim, like as if it was telling something, perhaps a story, coming from the past. "It was just at the end of the war, and they decided that Genesis, the planet, should be left on it's own. I was not as old as I now am at that time. I hardly remember what they were arguing about. Genesis was a mutual planet, split between two other planets, and it was about land. War broke out, and there was an agreement stating that Genesis be left alone and uninhabited for two hundred thousand Third Dimension years. Then suddenly, as the last ship left Genesis, the planet spun out of orbit. Yes Lair, they had flying ships for transportations back then. Quite nice. Most of the folks there were old and died soon after, with them was my father. When this orphan girl came to us, we took her in. Genesis happened to pass Uri and we stopped and got off from the dead and desolate planet. On Uri, we told everyone she was my sister. Later, people started to arrive. My father had magical powers and made himself king of Uri, but his reign was not nearly complete as he had not finished taking over when he fell ill and died. I took over, and this world was hence mine. However, everyone thinks I did most of the work. Your mother died shortly." Queen Jewel's eyes shifted. "It was for a good purpose."
"There was a good purpose for you to kill her?" Vash asked, fists clenched. Queen Jewel nodded.
"A very good purpose. However, you were all born already, so I raised you among my own. Now you see, I did not pick you out of the Fourth Dimension like I did many others."
"And our father?" Kelli asked.
"He died in battle, trying to declare independence for this nation." Queen Jewel said, and the wickedness returned in her eyes. "He was the first son of Clay the Elder."
"So Clay the Elder is our grandfather and Mr. Clay is our uncle!" Vash cried.
"Not for long."
The rings were coming closer. Queen Jewel was weakening the Light Card too, but I didn't know how. The card seemed to shrink back and suddenly disappeared into a ray of light that streaked back into my pocket, where it turned back into a card. I felt tears coming on. Would we ever get out of this mess? Would this battle never be over, or was it going to end here, with us in defeat?
"No." I said, somewhat as if crying it would stop, weeping like a child. "NO!" As I screamed, I suddenly felt a light glowing all around me. It seemed to be coming from my heart, inside my shirt. I looked around and noticed it was happening to the others too.
"What's happening to the children?" Cerberus asked.
"It must be some magical powers." Anora said.
"Did Yuki summon them?" Colton asked.
"Look." The light beams shot out and met in the center, like our hands did. And from the light, a figure started to form and emerge. After a while, all the light was sucked out, and the rest of us, exhausted, crumpled up and watched the scene.
Who was it? Marium? No, it was Ms. Jewel. She looked so beautiful, gleaming with radiance all over. She turned and faced Queen Jewel, emitting energy all over.
It was then when another miracle happened. Cherry, who had been dormant for so long, started to twitch. Nakita gave a startled cry of surprise and watched a tiny bulb peep out from Cherry's head and grow larger. "Must be the energy from Ms. Jewel." Suddenly, Cherry opened her large, amber eyes, and gazed up.
"Oh." She mumbled. "Nakita?" Nakita shrieked and squeezed Cherry tight, unable to help the tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Queen Jewel." Ms. Jewel said. "You have been such a pain to the world, such a terror, and we shall now bring a stop to you and your evil ways. This is a must."
"But how?" Queen Jewel challenged.
"The Forces Of Light Are Always Greater Than The Forces Of DARKNESS!" Ms. Jewel's voice seemed to howl. Queen Jewel looked down at her body and was surprised to see her body start to crumble.
"No, no, no!!!!!!!!!!" She cried. The dark rings around us were disappearing. Galdius looked up and was just as surprised.
"Mom!" It just seemed to break my heart to hear him call like that, but then I remembered all the evil things that he had done, and my pity vanished. Why should I ever care for what he thinks?
"Let me handle this one." With Queen Jewel unable to help, Colton destroyed Galdius. It was terrifying to see him vanish, with remnants of what looked like ashes scattered over the darkness. Queen Jewel was already up to her waist, disappearing more and more every second.
"And yet." Kelli said. "The Strange, the Lonely, and the Beautiful (smiles at Ms. Jewel) manage to destroy the one who thought she was all evil." Queen Jewel's eyes were lost, and we didn't even know what she was thinking, but she stood looking at the spot Galdius had disappeared.
"My son." Were her last words as the last of her evaporated into darkness and Queen Jewel was suddenly gone.
We had destroyed her. Uri was saved. Our quest, this long battle of hardships, was complete.
Vash: Whoa...deep...not that type of deep but...
Yuki: Yeah, could you please review this time.
Vash: Stop asking me.
Yuki: I should go on strike, but I've only got a couple more to go...save it for Black Magic.
Vash: All right.
Yuki: And I put all my chapters up on my web page like you told me too...the link's down tho, you can't get to it because I cut it because a certain someone tried to get to it.
Vash: Who?
Yuki: Tell ya later. I should put spoliers on the next chapter on here...what do you think?
Vash: I thought the last one...oh no, Yuki!
Yuki: I thought you liked long ones. You said Jewel Quest was too short a story.
Vash: And this one is how many pages?
Yuki: Only 9
Vash: Only?
Yuki: I really like this one, so please read, all right?
The Strange, the Lonely, and the Beautiful
Vash, who was shaking me furiously, wakened me up. He stopped a moment later and I opened my eyes, seeing him trying to wake everyone else up too. Doughboy stood by the door and Kelli was helping.
"What's going on?" I managed to croak, my throat being so dry.
"We're going to attack." Vash said. "Yes Yuki, during the night." I reached for my glass of water.
"Wow." Nakita said. Nearby, Kanari shifted and sat up in her bed.
"And in what clothes?" She mumbled.
"Whatever you can find." Vash said, leaving the room. "Clay the Elder and the rest of the army have been notified. They're coming with us and-"
"Wait, you mean Clay the Elder is coming too?" Snowy asked. Vash paused in the doorway.
"Well, technically, yes." He said. Vash lowered his voice. "Clay the Elder was known as the deadliest archer in his time. I don't know if he still has the touch (Vash's eyes strayed off and he trailed off for a while) but he is determined to see this battle."
"Then we better make it a good one!" I said, throwing a fist into the air. Vash disappeared and Kelli pushed Doughboy out of the room.
"They have to CHANGE." She said.
We didn't really have many clothes. Except for the dresses given to us (those fluffy, elegant dresses that we went shopping for herbs in), which were in the huge closet in the room, and Rene's costumes (somehow they had popped up on us in the middle of battle and we had found our usual clothes all cleaned in the closet, we also had nightgowns, but that was practically it.
"I don't think we should fight in those costumes." Kanari said.
"Why not?" Rene asked.
"Well, it's all right." Kanari said. "Just, I don't know, something wrong with it."
"I think it might be the self-consciousness." I said. "I think I'd feel better if I wore my ordinary clothes, and looked like an ordinary kid than wearing a battle (looks at Rene's costumes) clothes. I mean, they're great and all, but I just think they might be a distraction."
"It might help us think and feel better about ourselves." Nakita offered. "And they're probably more comfortable."
"You're right." Rene said, giving in. Pulling a red sweater over her neck, she looked over Dwarf Land out the window. "I wonder how could it's going to be?" She wore black pants. Running a comb through her hair, she was the first out the door.
Kanari was second, dressed in a yellow striped sweater. I changed into a green shirt, plopped on a hat, and was about the last one out when I suddenly spotted Nakita in a corner.
She had her blue jacket on, as usual. It was a soft, baby blue colored jacket. When she finished dressing, she picked up Cherry and headed towards the door. I smiled sadly.
Vash was in the library when we entered, along with Kelli. Kelli was reading something out of a book and Vash was dipping this sword in something. Then he stuck the sword out to the fire, turned it over, and held it in the air to cool. Kelli took whatever was left in the cup Vash dipped it in and poured it into a burgundy bottle. We watched, astonished, until Vash stuck his sword into the sheath and headed towards the door.
"What was that?" Liz asked.
"Poison." Vash said. His eyes were deadly.
As soon as we got outside, I felt disappointed. I didn't know what I was expecting, perhaps some greetings, but all I saw were Clay the Elder and something white. I thought maybe it was a ghost. Mr. Clay and the General of the Army had already started moving, since we could travel faster than they could. The white thing turned out to be a great, flying horse. Clay the Elder climbed onto it's back and gave it a lump of what could've been sugar.
"All ready?" Clay the Elder grinned at the nervous faces. "C'mon, this is the battle of our lives, something to be cherished!"
"And we shall come out as heroes." Vash added.
"All right, I'll lead." Clay the Elder patted the horse's neck and it started to fly. I gazed at the flying beast for a second before I realized the others had sprouted their wings. Rene was seating Liz, while Kanari and Snowy dragged Doughboy along (he had his bubble out, but it was too slow). Kelli was up by Clay the Elder.
"Hey Yuki!" Nakita called. I was watching the others in the sky when I turned to look at her. She was floating in the air, her two hands on Vash's arm. "Help me."
"I could use a lift, you know." Vash said.
"Oh, sorry." I said, running over to help. We started to fly towards our destination.
We must've flown quite a long time. What I remember most about that journey are the endless times Vash checked that pocket watch. It was silver now, though. Vash said it was because of the dwarf air.
At last, when we got to the hatch, we could see the last of the men crawling out of Dwarf's Land and into the jungle by the forest.
"Vash, directions?" Clay the Elder asked. Vash murmured,
"I've gotta learn to fly somehow." And ordered us to get him up front. "All right, this is what will happen." Vash grinned. Somehow, it made us all feel better. "We're going to try to get into the castle without anyone knowing where we came from. Who cares if they see us? Our destiny is to destroy every one of them here tonight. Rene, when it's time to signal for the guards, I'll tell you, and shoot several Golden Rings into the air. That should be easy to spot." Rene nodded. "Let's go." Vash put his hand out. Nakita and I (straining to keep him afloat with one hand only, he was practically abutted on us) put our hands over it, joined by Kanari, Snowy, Liz, Doughboy, Rene, Kelli, and then, slowly, Clay the Elder. He chuckled.
"Seems I'll never grow old, or out of my adventures." He smiled. "Someday, I reckon, I'll have to tell you of all my boyhood dreams and doings." We all looked at each other with smiles on our faces.
"Let's go." Vash repeated.
It was like a flash, as we surged up past the ladder and into the cold, night air. A soldier placed the circle of grass back into place. We were on top of the forest.
It didn't take much work to fly across the castle without being seen. The guards were injured from last time and there was a lack in workers. We landed in the dome. Creaking open a door, Vash peered into the dark hallway.
"I reckon we should just shoot a missile." Kero said. He was still on top of my hat, where he had been the whole journey. Anora had been in Kelli's hands. A dormant Cherry lay tucked in Nakita's jacket, with her head peeping out.
"Release." A couple of voices whispered. With our weapons ready, I decided to grant Kero the first shot of this battle. Turning him into Cerberus quickly, I let him free.
"Missile Launcher." He said, towards the open door. There was the sound of a million bullets, echoing into the dark hallway. Suddenly, the lights snapped on in the whole dome.
"They've been expecting us?" Liz asked, frightened.
"Somewhat." One of the guards said. They entered, and we saw that it was just a couple of guards. Then the other door opened a few minutes later, and we saw Galdius rushing in, with a flag, followed by knights and the remaining army, lined up in position. The last one to enter was a girl.
Lair flashed us her most charming smile and the dragon hissed.
I had a flashback.
"My dream!" I said.
Galdius lunged at Vash, and the two started to have a combat in the middle of the dome.
"That won't do!" Kelli said. "The rest of us have to fight here! Blow Hole!" She aimed it at the floor, and suddenly, the whole floor collapsed, sending everyone a few hundred feet down. We all lay in a pile of rubble.
"Smooth move, Kelli." Vash said, picking himself off of the floor. Galdius and Vash started to fight again, but in a more private quarter.
"I think we're in the basement." Kelli said. We heard a roar from above. The dragon was righting a one on one with Cerberus. Cerberus, the only one who had not fallen down, had challenged the great dragon. With Lair on it's back, it was deadly. I spread my wings and look a mighty leap upwards.
"Wait, Yuki!" Liz called. Ignoring her, I reached Cerberus.
The rest of the group down in the basement had already started to fight. Liz, with her rapier, pulled ruse after ruse and sliced many a person. Doughboy was hiding behind a crate, messing around with people's memories and having the time of his life. Rene was shooting a whole lot of Power Hoops (yes, the first few ere dangerous, but the rest of them were pretty well aimed) from her position in the air. Vash and Galdius were trying to outmatch each other. As Clay the Elder had expected, the rest of the crew, the guards and rest of the army had arrived (only about twenty people). He shot most of them with that deadly arrow, and the horse opened his mouth, allowing a shock bomb to come out and flatten out the top of the castle. The castle was being reduced to rubble.
"You'd think that the dwarf's would've wanted the castle." Snowy said, using her wand to bind people, belittle people, and do all sort of horrifying things to people. "But I guess they plan to build a new one."
"Yeah." Nakita said. "This one has too many bad memories." She was teamed up with Kanari, making people deaf and blind.
I was against Lair, a very deadly job.
"Watery Card, Release and Dispel!" I thrust the wand into the watery, and in a few minutes, the power of the card was ready.
"What can that do?" Lair asked, more in a mocking tone than anything.
"That." I snapped my fingers and the next second: Lair's face was all wet.
"Ooh!" Lair said and started saying a lot of gibberish, which I later realized was some sort of cussing. The dragon raised his head and sent a jet full of fire right at Cerberus and me.
"Missile Launcher." Cerberus had an easy target. However, the bullets just burned up.
"Ah!" I said. "Watery!" The Watery Card emerged right between the flames and us. After the fire was gone, I breathed a great sigh of relief. "We need to destroy this monster, and I'm not very good at destroying things." I whined.
"Freeze Card, Release and Dispel!" I called. The freeze card emerged and tried to freeze the monster. This didn't take long.
"Missile Launcher." Cerberus said for the third and last time. The missiles aimed for the frozen monster. I half expected it to crack the ice, but there was one great, huge cloud of dust and I saw the missiles stuck in the ice, unable to explode, piercing the dragon's skin, especially it's belly. It howled and blasted a stream of fire onto the wall by the done, setting it into flames and several objects (portraits, etc.) fell and became flaming balls of fire, headed right towards the basement!
"Watery!" I howled. The Watery went and demolished the fire, only sending a spray of debris down within. "Quick, Cerberus, aim your Rocket Blaster!" Cerberus followed my advice. The missile came out of his mouth and hit the dragon full force in its mouth. Then something astonishing happened.
I'm not sure how to describe it. It's more like the dead just disappeared into the air and split into a thousand pieces, while the frozen body shot out of the broken windows of the dome. Lair screamed, and within myself, aside from the white gruesomeness of the scene, I was strangely pleased. However, my duty was not done yet. Lair, who did not have wings, who had ever cared for wings, jumped down several hundred feet into the basement and sliced off a piece of someone else's arrow at the attempt to get everyone's attention. Cerberus dived in after her, and I, after confining the Watery and Freeze Cards and summoning the Sword, quickly followed.
Lair was an experienced swordsman, or woman, should I say. She tackled Kelli first, and the two were engaged in mortal combat. Lumbeus and the rest of the knights lay as brave men on the basement floor, while the battle still raged. Clay the Elder and the winged horse (an original Fereos) calmly reduced the rest of the castle to ashes and rubble.
"She's a tough one." Liz said. Rene blew up some crates, allowing them to see some other people hiding behind the crates. They were clearing the basement.
"You ought to be more careful about where you cut and slice and hit." Kelli said, dodging a blow from Lair, who was ducking from Anora's vicious claws. "Or else this whole basement could be flooded by blood." It was true. Blood was spewed all over the place, the walls, the floor, everywhere. While the last few men were hit and taken care of, Vash had taken the Blue Mist and made a clean cut along Galdius's arm. The poison leaked in. Galdius stumbled, flung his sword up in the air, and it, the sword flew several feet in the air: straight at Nakita.
"Nakita, watch out!" Vash lunged for her, knocking her out of the way. They crashed into several crates, which fell over and hit them. Snowy ran over and picked up the sword before anyone could object.
"Heavy." She said. Several armed people jumped out from the crates where Vash and Nakita had crashed into, but they were too slow. They were demolished within a second by those great Golden Rings.
"This battle is over." Vash said, emerging from the crates, dusting him up, followed by a badly shaken Nakita.
"Not so fast." The door slammed open; off its hinges, filled with light.
Light from a torch.
It was her, Queen Jewel. Who could've been worse? The most feared person who had ever raged the Fifth Dimension.
Her blue eyes were pale, almost as deadly as Vash's, but it had amusement to it, and it was followed by a chuckle. Galdius stood in a corner, his head down, and Lair and Kelli stood posed, swords were still, gazing at the monster before them. Queen Jewel stiffened, and reaching behind her, she deposited three figures: Eriol, Ariel, and Colton.
I stifled a cry. The three figures that had lead us all into this, that had caused all of this. Eriol was hardly awake, mumbling and rubbing his eyes. Ariel was looking around, seeming aware of the things around. But Colton, now, I almost felt sorry for him. He was curled up in a corner, licking his paws sadly. It broke my heart.
"Go ahead." Queen Jewel ordered. "Attack. What are you waiting for?"
Ariel stood up slowly, and withdrew her sword. I saw that she was dressed in quite shabby clothes: Just a plain old shirt with a black skirt. She looked almost human, and her eyes were tired. But as she looked around, she recognized the four of us. And the first one she lunged at was no other than Liz.
Engaged in battle, she was furious. Liz's hair was almost cut off in battle, and twice, if it had not been for Anora's attacks, Liz's mistakes could've been fatal. At this signal, Galdius, Vash, Kelli, and Lair all started to fight again. Eriol charged at Snowy, who outsmarted him by tying him up in with ribbons.
"And so, not for long." Queen Jewel said. Her voice was hardly above a whisper. "You have not even seen the REAL POWERS OF ME!" Her voice booming like thunder, she aimed her torch thing at us. It glowed and suddenly, I felt myself lifted clear of the ground, and then deposited straight into the sides of a few crates.
"Ow!" I cried as she made us fly around the room like a bunch of stuffed animals.
"Golden Rings!" Rene called, but Queen Jewel placed me in front of her.
"Ah, no!" I screamed. Vash ran up and reflected the attack with his sword, since he was not being controlled. It hit Lair in the jaw, sending her tumbling into Galdius, who groaned. The poison was getting to him. Snowy thrashed around with the sword, so we thought to stay clear of her. She somehow hit Eriol on the leg and the next second he was bleeding.
"Time to take it wild." Queen Jewel aimed her long stick with the claws and globe at the ground. Suddenly, with a swirl of colors, the ground seemed just to open up and swallow us in. The next second, all we could see was darkness. I was glad that Clay the Elder was not with us. I wasn't sure it he could handle all this, and I was glad that he was destroying the castle. Little did I know that while half of the dwarf's waited for that never to come signal, the other half were in the fields, beating up the Queen's men and setting the workers free, with a promise we'd come back for them.
As I looked around, I noticed for the first time that my green, straw hat was not on my head. In face, Queen Jewel was spinning it around in the air, surveying it.
"You leave that alone." I said, and felt myself being thrown backwards. I hit something solid, but the next minute, I could regain control of my wings and return to my friends.
"Her powers are just so unlimited." Vash said as we watched her play with different people. Lair, Eriol, Ariel, and Galdius returned to her side. Surprisingly, though, Colton took a position next to us. He smiled at Cerberus and attacked with the same missile launcher. That was enough for me. He was on our side.
I was so happy I wanted to go up and kiss him, but that could wait. Rene's attacks were useless against Queen Jewel, with nothing we could do. However, Nakita and Kanari could still attack. They had just enough time to make Ariel and Eriol deaf and blind when Queen Jewel put an end to it by wrapping them around a cord. Then she seemed to think it was a good idea and started to do that to all of us, but not before Rene got mad.
"Power Hoops!" The two shot out and hit Eriol and Ariel, smack in the face. They were reduced to nothing. Lair gasped. Galdius clutched at his arm.
"You think it's always a friendly battle, even against people who used to be your friends?" Vash demanded. Queen Jewel tied him up and stuffed something in his mouth. I rushed to cut the cords, but they wouldn't cut, and Nakita managed to pull out something furry out of Vash's mouth.
"Grr." I mumbled. "I want my hat back." I glared at Queen Jewel. She seemed to read my mind, and reached for it. "Don't you dare! Light Card, stop her from touching my hat!" The Light Card surged forward, while something dropped back into my hand. Ah, the Sword Card had turned back into a card when I used my wand. "Windy, get my hat back!" Windy lunged forward, bringing my hat back (though it wasn't much use, still). I shuffled through my cards.
"Use time." Cerberus said, aiming more missiles at Queen Jewel, who was trying to avoid the Light Card. Somehow, she was afraid of it. The missiles, plus Colton's, hit everything in it's path. Galdius, with all that pain and his wound, fainted. Lair screamed, a piercing scream, and started to sob. The Light Card disappeared from view, but came back once the missiles were gone.
"Sweet Card!" I summoned. The Sweet Card rushed forward and turned Queen Jewel's wand into a big, messy, warm, and chocolate bar. Queen Jewel was disgusted.
"You all think that you will win." She boomed. "But I will get you all. Ring of Death!" Vash's eyes expanded to the size of an egg, along with Kelli's.
"Her ultimate attack." They managed to croak.
We were trapped. The everlasting darkness approached us in a big circle, with no escape.
"You were always a strange kid, Vash." Queen Jewel said as the ring split and each one of us started to have an individual circle shrink towards us. I would have much rather just had one huge circle, it'd be more comforting, but Queen Jewel knew that, and she wanted this experience to be as crushing and ghastly as possible.
"You never wanted to do what the rest of the land wanted to do, you had your own ways and ideas, your own trainings and sessions, and I knew this was coming, someday." She said. "And yet, you were obedient. Very. Like a child, I suppose, you listened to everything. But you were a leader. So I guess it was YOU who stirred him on." She turned to Kelli. "Yes, you, you lonely little girl who used to wander the halls at night with a blanket and cry for momma. And when I came out you cried, and said I wasn't your mother. You were the smart one, all right, but not full of wits. You needed something to back you up, and your brother was mighty fine for that job. You were two awkward kids, you know, one strange and the other one lonely, always needing someone, what a balance." She chuckled. Kelli's temper boiled (and I tell ya, that was the first and last time I had ever seen it boil in that journey, she was such a good, spirited, young girl that I could hardly believe that a single word coming out of Queen Jewel's mouth was true and worthy of. But a glance at Kelli proved it so. Lair stood there, with a mocking gaze, mostly at Vash.
"Maybe what I lacked the most was the result of me being lonely." Kelli's voice cracked. "Maybe what I wanted the most was a mother, what you weren't and never were, however you pretended to be. Oh, I saw Queen Jewel, the way you acted could've fooled some, but not me. I knew from the start that you were not my mother, but the creator of something large, and perhaps the very person that destroyed my mother."
"How care you say that I have no, no, and well, how dare you well, at least you know that your mother is dead." Queen Jewel's eyes blazed. "Your mother." The mouth moved slightly. "Was my sister."
"No!" A cry emerged from deep within Kelli. Vash tried to comfort her, but he was as shocked himself.
"Not exactly sister." Queen Jewel. "I rather did like that scare. She was an orphan, and we found her from Genesis, the planet where I came from." Her voice was dim, like as if it was telling something, perhaps a story, coming from the past. "It was just at the end of the war, and they decided that Genesis, the planet, should be left on it's own. I was not as old as I now am at that time. I hardly remember what they were arguing about. Genesis was a mutual planet, split between two other planets, and it was about land. War broke out, and there was an agreement stating that Genesis be left alone and uninhabited for two hundred thousand Third Dimension years. Then suddenly, as the last ship left Genesis, the planet spun out of orbit. Yes Lair, they had flying ships for transportations back then. Quite nice. Most of the folks there were old and died soon after, with them was my father. When this orphan girl came to us, we took her in. Genesis happened to pass Uri and we stopped and got off from the dead and desolate planet. On Uri, we told everyone she was my sister. Later, people started to arrive. My father had magical powers and made himself king of Uri, but his reign was not nearly complete as he had not finished taking over when he fell ill and died. I took over, and this world was hence mine. However, everyone thinks I did most of the work. Your mother died shortly." Queen Jewel's eyes shifted. "It was for a good purpose."
"There was a good purpose for you to kill her?" Vash asked, fists clenched. Queen Jewel nodded.
"A very good purpose. However, you were all born already, so I raised you among my own. Now you see, I did not pick you out of the Fourth Dimension like I did many others."
"And our father?" Kelli asked.
"He died in battle, trying to declare independence for this nation." Queen Jewel said, and the wickedness returned in her eyes. "He was the first son of Clay the Elder."
"So Clay the Elder is our grandfather and Mr. Clay is our uncle!" Vash cried.
"Not for long."
The rings were coming closer. Queen Jewel was weakening the Light Card too, but I didn't know how. The card seemed to shrink back and suddenly disappeared into a ray of light that streaked back into my pocket, where it turned back into a card. I felt tears coming on. Would we ever get out of this mess? Would this battle never be over, or was it going to end here, with us in defeat?
"No." I said, somewhat as if crying it would stop, weeping like a child. "NO!" As I screamed, I suddenly felt a light glowing all around me. It seemed to be coming from my heart, inside my shirt. I looked around and noticed it was happening to the others too.
"What's happening to the children?" Cerberus asked.
"It must be some magical powers." Anora said.
"Did Yuki summon them?" Colton asked.
"Look." The light beams shot out and met in the center, like our hands did. And from the light, a figure started to form and emerge. After a while, all the light was sucked out, and the rest of us, exhausted, crumpled up and watched the scene.
Who was it? Marium? No, it was Ms. Jewel. She looked so beautiful, gleaming with radiance all over. She turned and faced Queen Jewel, emitting energy all over.
It was then when another miracle happened. Cherry, who had been dormant for so long, started to twitch. Nakita gave a startled cry of surprise and watched a tiny bulb peep out from Cherry's head and grow larger. "Must be the energy from Ms. Jewel." Suddenly, Cherry opened her large, amber eyes, and gazed up.
"Oh." She mumbled. "Nakita?" Nakita shrieked and squeezed Cherry tight, unable to help the tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Queen Jewel." Ms. Jewel said. "You have been such a pain to the world, such a terror, and we shall now bring a stop to you and your evil ways. This is a must."
"But how?" Queen Jewel challenged.
"The Forces Of Light Are Always Greater Than The Forces Of DARKNESS!" Ms. Jewel's voice seemed to howl. Queen Jewel looked down at her body and was surprised to see her body start to crumble.
"No, no, no!!!!!!!!!!" She cried. The dark rings around us were disappearing. Galdius looked up and was just as surprised.
"Mom!" It just seemed to break my heart to hear him call like that, but then I remembered all the evil things that he had done, and my pity vanished. Why should I ever care for what he thinks?
"Let me handle this one." With Queen Jewel unable to help, Colton destroyed Galdius. It was terrifying to see him vanish, with remnants of what looked like ashes scattered over the darkness. Queen Jewel was already up to her waist, disappearing more and more every second.
"And yet." Kelli said. "The Strange, the Lonely, and the Beautiful (smiles at Ms. Jewel) manage to destroy the one who thought she was all evil." Queen Jewel's eyes were lost, and we didn't even know what she was thinking, but she stood looking at the spot Galdius had disappeared.
"My son." Were her last words as the last of her evaporated into darkness and Queen Jewel was suddenly gone.
We had destroyed her. Uri was saved. Our quest, this long battle of hardships, was complete.
Vash: Whoa...deep...not that type of deep but...
Yuki: Yeah, could you please review this time.
Vash: Stop asking me.
Yuki: I should go on strike, but I've only got a couple more to go...save it for Black Magic.
Vash: All right.
Yuki: And I put all my chapters up on my web page like you told me too...the link's down tho, you can't get to it because I cut it because a certain someone tried to get to it.
Vash: Who?
Yuki: Tell ya later. I should put spoliers on the next chapter on here...what do you think?
