Chapter 4
The sword Haelles held in his hands seemed to radiate nothing but darkness, it was almost scary.
I should've known I'd eventually have to kill you. You're nothing but trouble. You couldn't even save your sister when you had the chance!!
"SHUT UP!!!" Magus hollered and struck a fighting-position.
Haelles snorted, but didn't say anything.
Within a second, he was gone, and Glenn could just whirl around to block the swing aimed at his head from Haelles. Magus whirled around and lashed out at Haelles with his scythe. He dodged and somehow vanished so he was behind Magus. Magus however, knew he would and had whirled around and lashed at Haelles who blocked, a look of surprise on his face.
Hey, hey! You're not that bad!
"Shut up!" Magus hissed and the two parried, blocked, dodged, and stabbed.
Lucca carefully took aim, and fired, sending a boll of energy straight at Haelles. He saw it coming however, and gave the projectile one sideways glance --- making it explode in mid-air!
As Lucca was left gawking, Marle had fired a bolt at Haelles. He saw that coming too, hurriedly kicked Magus away for a second and slashed the bolt in half easily.
Marle and Lucca gawked, before looking at each other. Marle grabbed something from her bag. It was a black hunk of rock.
Magus and Glenn were now fending off against Haelles, who managed to dodge them at every turn, but didn't manage to cut through their own defenses. The Masamune swung at Haelles' head, but he ducked and jumped up to avoid Magus' scythe. He landed straight on the blade of the scythe and easily kicked Magus in the chest, hard! Magus was sent flying, and slammed into the old tree, which broke on impact.
Glenn and Haelles' weapons clashed, and none were losing their spirit.
Marle and Lucca ran over to Magus to see if he was alright. Lucca whispered something in his ear, to which he nodded. He took the hunk of rock from Marle.
Glenn blocked Haelles swing, and got an idea. The plan was sent to the Masamune through his brain, and with a quick swing, Haelles' sword went flying. Glenn aimed at Haelles, but his eyes glowed dark red, and blood red energy gathered at his hands.
Glenn remembered seeing that attack, and in his mind, he heard Masa and Mune say: "Uh-oh."
FIRE OF THE UNIVERE!!!!!!!!
Glenn felt a pain unlike anything he'd ever felt, and was sent flying. He crashed hard on the ground and felt like he was burning up. He managed to push himself up, only to be knocked back down as a fist connected to his jaw, making a loud cracking sound, and sending him flying again. He looked up and noticed Haelles was holding a dark black orb in his hand, which was directed at him!
The black energy grew, and Glenn couldn't even make a sound. His jaw'd been broken, simply smashed by the force of the blow he'd received earlier.
Say goodnight little froggy!
Glenn closed his eyes and waited for death to claim him. The dark energy grew, dark purple electricity sparked every now and then, and it made a loud sizzling sound. A small screech came from Haelles, which sounded awfully familiar. Glenn felt blood drip from his chest and jaw, and it hurt like Hell! Haelles brought his hand back, ready to throw, and a loud screech erupted from his mouth. His hand moved down, the giant black boll going with it, when suddenly---
"DARK ETERNAL!!!!!!!!!" three voices shouted from afar, and Haelles turned around in shock.
Marle and Lucca were both holding their hands in front of them, their chins in their throats, circling Magus, who was moving his arms in front of him like he did so many times when he was chanting, before he spread his arms, and seemed to spin around in the opposite direction the girls were going, like a shadow. An entire galaxy seemed to flash by, a white triangle spinning in place, before it hurled a beam of black, white and red Mana at Haelles.
Haelles screamed out in pain as it hit. Glenn blinked in surprise.
Lucca suddenly shouted: "Glenn! Use your Frog Squash!!!"
Glenn shrugged, but did so, not shouting for once. Lucca's Flare soon accompanied it, and Haelles' screams increased in volume, until a strange gurgling sound came out, which soon changed into a high pitched screech.
No one dared to open their eyes, they were all clenched shut, hoping that it was over. Magus finally dared to open one eye, and was shocked to find Haelles' body, bloodied and squashed, laying on the ground, eyes white and mouth still open in a silent scream.
He blinked. That had been relatively easy.
"You can open your eyes, it's over," he said, a smirk forming on his features.
Lucca looked too, shocked.
"It-it is?" she asked.
"It actually worked??" Marle asked, opening her eyes too.
Glenn sat up, and lightly rubbed his jaw, but it hurt too much. His chest was still bleeding from the attack Haelles had thrown at him. Marle had come over, and cast a Cure2 spell.
After Glenn was healed, he too asked: "Thou art sure 'tis over?"
Magus looked at the dead body, and nodded.
"If he survived this, then I'm like my mother!"
Suddenly, the body turned to a pitch black, and vanished in the earth.
"They always do it wrong, don't they?" a cold and sarcastic voice asked.
The four of them nearly jumped, and whirled around toward the remains of the tree Magus had wrecked.
On the trunk, sat a dark figure, a sheath around his waist that contained a sword that was blacker than midnight. The chest plate of his armor was a dark black color; the shoulder plates, which also held three sharp, red spikes on them, were dark green; his metal brown colored gloves had three blood red spikes on them, one between each knuckle; and the armor shielding his legs was a dark red color. A flaming red cape flowed behind him, and he was leaning on one arm, with one leg draped over his other, and his other arm was laying on his leg. He had black hair that stood upright in a flame, with red strakes running through it, a windows-peak, scorching red eyes, and had a blood-red scar running from above his left eye to above his chin.
"Shadows, they always do things wrong. If it's not one thing, it's another," the figure muttered.
"Who are YOU?!?!" Lucca asked, totally confused.
The person didn't answer, he continued to mutter.
"The scar was supposed to be on the left side, not the right. And the armor wasn't right in the least. And he even forgot the tail!"
Magus then noticed a dark black appendage waving around gently behind the figure.
"So you're Haelles!" Magus hissed.
Lucca, Marle and Glenn looked scared as the figure looked up at them, a little confused.
"Yes, that would be the right way to call me," Haelles mumbled and stood up, wiping some snow from his arms. "Haven't been called much else over the past few years."
Haelles stared down at the silver haired Queen near his feet and scoffed, before sending a blast at her, incinerating her with ease, making the four warriors gasp.
"YOU FREAK!!! HOW COULD YOU DO THAT?!?!" Marle screamed.
"I don't like to litter, I usually dispose of bodies once they're killed, but I was a little short on time at the time."
Haelles seemed a little confused about what he just said, but shrugged it off and walked toward the summit.
"If you still plan on fighting me, then don't count on any help from the Gurus. Where they are now, they won't be able to help you."
He looked over to them over his shoulder from the corner of his eyes and a smirk on his face.
"Good day."
And he was gone.
Meanwhile…
Ayla picked up a huge piece of rock and tossed it toward Janice, who caught it and crushed it into dust. The dust then began swirling, and formed several bricks, which were tossed at Robo, who had started on making the cobblestone square. They were at least making progress.
After awhile, they took a break, and Janice asked Robo to give a report of the status of the End Of Time.
"The square is complete for 64%. If we keep this up, we should be finished in about 5 more hours."
Ayla laid down on the rock hard ground, laying on nothing but black freaked her out. She let out a sigh of relief; sweat was pouring down her body.
"Ayla be tired. Ayla want to sleep!" she said.
"Then go ahead girl, you earned it!" Janice said with a smile, when suddenly, her stomach started to protest.
Robo and Ayla looked at Janice in confusion.
"Damn! I haven't eaten in about three days and I'm already starving."
She let out a groan.
"Humans can last without food for a week, so you can wait for awhile," Robo said.
"NO I CANNOT!!!" Janice shouted, stomping her foot. "I'M NOT HUMAN TO BEGIN WITH!!! I EAT FOUR TIMES AS MUCH AS HUMANS!!! SO THERE!!!"
Robo and Ayla were astonished. Janice sure had one Hell of a temper.
"I'm going to find something to eat if you don't mind, be seein' ya!!"
And she jumped into a Gate.
Keeper's Dome, 2300 AD…
Belthasar finally gave a sigh and jumped off of his latest invention. He had just finished it, and he was quite satisfied. A steady beat however, made him turn around. It was a heart he was hearing. His eyes widened, as he looked upon the same creature that had destroyed the End Of Time. It stalked over to Belthasar, growling and screeching the whole way.
"Who are you!?"
The thing didn't answer.
Belthasar backed up, trying to get away, but it didn't help. A loud screech erupted from the thing's mouth, and the thing jumped at the old man.
Death Peak…
No one said a word for a long while; they were just staring at the place where Haelles had disappeared. Magus knew he should've known that the person they fought hadn't been Haelles. If not by the armor, by the scar on his face. Something had been disabling that way of thinking for him however; there had only been rage, and it made him snap. It was as if it had always been there, but had been begging to be let out for once.
And he had a feeling it could be even worse.
Suddenly, something before his eyes flashed, and before he knew it, he saw the silver-haired woman standing near the summit, looking bothered. He looked around, and saw that he was alone. Glenn, Lucca and Marle were nowhere to be found. The woman's eyes closed as a sudden gush of wind streaked her face and made her hair wave in the wind.
"The Black Wind begins to brew…" she whispered. "One among you," she said, looking Magus straight in the eye with her blood red eyes, "will shortly perish…"
Strange flashes appeared before him. It all went far too fast for him to follow, far too fast. Screeches, screams, and cries for help sounded, and then…… it stopped altogether.
Magus looked around in confusion, and saw he was back on Death Peak as if it never happened. Glenn, Lucca and Marle were still staring, still unable to believe what had happened.
Finally, Magus broke the silence.
"Let's get out of here, this place gives even me the creeps right now," he said and began his descend. The three others looked confused, before letting out a yelp and running after Magus, each wanting to get off of that mountain.
The End Of Time…
When they arrived, they noticed that the cobblestone square where Gaspar always leaned against the lamppost was practically finished. All that was missing was the lamppost and Gaspar himself. Janice was walking around on the square, as if trying to determine if everything was in order. The fence was solid enough, but Janice didn't kick to find out.
She pushed it lightly with her finger.
Janice then gave the fence an approving nod, before she finally caught sight of them.
"Oh, hi guys! So, what happened?" she asked.
Magus scoffed and said: "Your dad played a trick on us, and made us think we beat him, but it then proved to be something called a Shadow. And he's got the Gurus so we're in pretty deep."
Janice, Ayla and Robo looked bewildered. Lucca spoke up next.
"Janice, what was your mother like? And how was your father toward her?"
Janice blinked, twice.
"He said he loved her, but after Lavos…" she sighed.
"I don't know what happened to my mother, but she's probably dead."
Lucca, Marle and Glenn looked a little at each other, each at a loss for words.
"How was she?" Magus asked.
Janice looked at him, before looking away.
"I can't remember… I… I haven't seen her in years," she said, and walked away, not showing any sign of emotion.
Ayla and Robo watched her for awhile as she continued to check if everything was all right.
Ayla turned to Magus and asked: "What happen? Where go?"
The four time-travelers told the trio about their fight with the Shadow, the meeting with Haelles, the 5 dead women they'd seen. When they mentioned them however, Janice seemed to flinch for a second, until it was gone and she resumed listening.
After everyone was informed, Magus and the three others left to search for Haelles again.
10,001 BC, the Sun Keep…
She carefully walked into the Sun Keep, feeling the Black Wind howl, and she ran up to the Sun Stone. With two steps at a time, she ascended the stairs, before reaching the yet to be powered Sun Stone. Her hands almost touched the stone, but remained but inches away from it. She began chanting, soft words that were barely used anymore.
"Neuga, Ziga, Zimba, Zom..."
Blood red energy gathered at her hands.
"Loras, Dana, Mura, Blena…"
It began spreading around the stone, and staid there for awhile, until it evaporated. It was still there though, and she knew it.
Satisfied, she smiled, and ran away, where she opened a Gate and jumped in.
???? ??…
They all stepped out of the Gate, carefully looking around as to where they were. Dark mist was everywhere, but the trees looked more like the ones in 65,000,000 BC than those in 600 AD. Magus was confused; what was this place?
They made their way through the dark forest, a hand on their weapons, just in case. They walked down the path, still looking around cautiously, as if they could be jumped upon at any second. The forest was quiet, far too quiet.
Somewhere, something wasn't right. The path looked unused, and they left not a single trace, indicating that it would be hard to find their way back. Lucca, Glenn and Ayla stopped, as Magus turned to the side, as if he heard something. Magus had indeed heard something. Rustling, of something big. He didn't know how, but he knew it was humanoid. Whoever was out there, was trying to stay undiscovered. His eyes carefully scanned the area as a small fireball collected at his hand.
She watched them, her eyes narrowing as she tried to see more than just the people's silhouettes. However, she couldn't, even with her sharp sight. One of them seemed to be looking in her direction, and was holding some sort of strange glowing thing. She couldn't make out what it was until it was too late. The ball of fire was sent straight at her and she was forced to jump up into the sanctuaries of the trees, but another one of the people had seen her, and was climbing up the tree faster than she could say: "Yipe!" With her own speed, she shot up the tree, looking back once in awhile to see how that person was doing.
"You think Ayla's alright up there?" Lucca asked, gazing up to the tree with a hand above her eyes to shelter the sun.
Glenn watched with increased eye-sight, and saw that there were two females in the tree.
All of the sudden, a scream was heard, and Ayla was thrown down the tree. She would've been killed if she hadn't been able to grab a treebranch at the last second, flip once and climb up once again. However, some sort of roar from high in the tree made Ayla shriek as she raced back down and hid behind Glenn.
Magus looked stunned. Ayla was rarely scared of anything, so why was that so frightening? The answer came down rather quickly as a set a razor-sharp claws touched the ground. In front of them, stood a humanoid woman, with a long tail that looked awfully familiar. It had the same color of her hair; a pure golden hue. Her eyes were a pure violet and her eyebrows were arched down in a fierce scowl, with sharp horns coming from her scalp, sharp black scaled claws on her hands and feet, and two large Dragon wings protruding from her back. There was a large scar running from just above her right eye to below her left, just missing the bone of her nose. Around her waist, hung two sheaths; one containing a rather dangerous looking scythe, and a different one containing a sword with a Dragon for a hilt. She looked rather pissed off.
Ayla was actually shaking in fear for once, but the woman's gaze was fixed on Magus, who looked thoughtfully, as if he'd seen her before. There was an air around the woman that made something inside of him trigger, and for some reason, it hurt, just slightly though. Just as everyone thought the silence would last forever, the woman spoke.
"Who are you and why are you here? You are trespassing!" she said with a voice that could break ice, if her infernal gaze hadn't already.
Magus inwardly cringed, but he tried to keep calm. Lucca had carefully hidden herself under Magus' cape, looking at the woman with a sense of fear.
"We were… we were just searching for our friend. We didn't know we were trespassing on your land," Glenn said. "We apologize for it."
The woman didn't avert her gaze from Magus, and something seemed to burn in her eyes, before---
Her eyes changed into a sapphire blue and the corner of her mouth lifted into a fierce smirk like that of Magus.
"The Chrono Trigger? You mean Crono, right? The kid with the punk hairdo?" she questioned, and almost all of them toppled over.
"What?!?!" Lucca asked, her fear long forgotten.
"How you know!? We no tell you of Crono!! So how you know!?" Ayla demanded, jumping from behind Glenn.
The woman kept on smirking and said: "I will answer all of your questions, if you can answer a simple riddle."
"Riddles??" Magus questioned, one eyebrow lifting.
The woman bared her teeth, and revealed a set of razor-sharp fangs.
"Yes. Be silent and I'll send you away, answer wrong and I'll kill you, answer correctly, and you may ask away," the woman said.
Glenn, Lucca and Ayla looked at Magus, who was obviously thinking.
"Tell me this simple riddle."
The woman smirked and said with a strange voice:
"It devours all; birds, beasts, trees, flowers.
It gnaws on iron, bites steel; grinds hard stones to dust.
It slays Kings, lands from the sky, kills both the guilty and innocent, but makes them rise and grow as well.
It ruins towns, burns villages, drains the lakes, beats the High Mountains down.
It cannot be stopped, no matter how hard one may try, it will never be stopped.
What is this thing I speak so high and mighty of?"
The four of them looked at the woman in absolute wonder, unable to fathom what she was possibly talking about.
"Uh… could you… repeat that?" Magus asked.
The woman blinked, then smirked, and repeated the riddle.
"Each of you has a turn. If all are wrong, you will die, if one is right, ask away, if the last is silent, I shall send you away."
Ayla was the first to try. She racked her hands through her hair in a vain attempt to find something that could do all of it. That's when something came to her. She turned to the woman.
"Lavos!"
The woman didn't move, but then said: "Lavos can devour all, can gnaw and bite, can slay Kings and destroy lands, kill the innocent and guilty, but cannot make them rise or grow, he can ruin towns, burn villages, drain the lakes, beat the High Mountains down, but it can be stopped if one tries hard enough."
Ayla looked like she just came to the same conclusion and hit herself in the forehead. Glenn was the next. He racked through his amphibian mind, but kept his mouth. No matter how long it took, no answer came. Glenn shook his head finally, showing he was planning to remain silent. The woman nodded, and turned her gaze to Lucca. Lucca, had already been thinking, and still did, tapping her foot impatiently as a hand was on her elbow and the other under her chin. After awhile, she sighed and gave her thought a try.
"Haelles??"
The woman's eyes seemed to widen for a millimeter, but that was gone within the blink of an eye.
"Haelles is strong indeed, I can tell you that, but he cannot make innocent rise and grow. He makes them guilty of killing, stealing, rape and vandalism, but even a force like Haelles can be stopped."
Lucca sighed and everyone's gaze turned to Magus, who had his arms crossed, eyes closed, and was scowling, obviously thinking.
***Magus' POV***
But if it's neither Lavos nor Haelles, than whom is it? A force so great it can't be stopped? There's nothing in this whole fucking Universe that can't be stopped! How can this be?! I tried to remember things the Gurus told me about things that can't be beaten. They kept saying Lavos could never be beaten, but hey! We still did! Haelles is strong, but with the proper training, we could possibly beat them, even if it means giving one's life, like what that fool Crono did.
Man, I'm already starting to sound like Haelles! But I mean, come on! Nothing is unbeatable. How are we possibly going to find something that we can't beat? Shit! I'll be an old man when I finally find the answer to this riddle! And just because I don't have enough----
***My POV***
Magus' eyes suddenly shot open, and the woman looked a little confused.
"Time!!" Magus said, and the woman looked horrified. "Time can devour all; it can make birds, beasts, trees and flowers die. As Time progresses, iron and steel will rust, and stones will be turned into nothing but dust. Time can make Kings die in battles, can make Kingdoms fall from the sky by making an apocalypse, can kill both guilty and innocent people, but as Time progresses, new guilty and innocent will be born and grow into adults until they too shall die. Time can ruin towns, let villages burn by a fire caused by a heat-wave, it can let all the water in lakes evaporate, and can beat the High Mountains to the ground. No one can stop Time, because there is absolutely no way in doing so. No matter how hard one may try, Time will never be stopped!"
The woman was actually gawking at Magus, who was smirking at her. Lucca, Ayla and Glenn looked shocked. The three of them had actually searched too hard in their heads, while the answer was actually so simple. If it was right. The woman's eyes closed, and she seemed to be a little pissed off, but when she reopened them, nothing of the sorts could be seen.
"People always think that only things you can touch, feel and see can destroy, while in truth, an invisible force can either let the world live, or let it suffer and be destroyed, and be recreated, or to be unchanged," the woman said, and smirked. "You won't believe how many people have died trying to solve that."
Lucca, Ayla and Glenn sighed.
"You solved my riddle, meaning you can ask me anything you want, but if I can't answer, I won't."
Magus gave a nod and asked: "Who are you and where are we?"
The woman smirked, then said: "I am named Milaya Laze Milen, called Laze among friends, former General in the Saiyan Army on both Old and New Vegeta-sei, and as to where we are, this is where I stay for a year before being allowed into the third dimension again."
Magus was suddenly staring at her rather thoughtfully.
"Saiyan??" he wondered. "Does that mean you are one?"
Laze rolled her eyes and said: "Yes, I am, even though I'm just part Saiyan, because I'm also part Dragon. I'm one of the last."
Lucca then opened her mouth and asked: "Exactly how do you recognize a Saiyan?"
Laze gave a small nod and said: "I'd like to answer, but I have a feeling that your legs are getting a little tired of just standing around."
Lucca blinked, then she noticed the pain in her legs and said: "Guess you're right."
"Can any of you fly?" Laze asked, and the four of them looked confused. "Guess not."
Laze gave a sharp whistle and within a second four rather large creatures walked over. One was a creature that seemed to be half lion half eagle, and looked rather dangerous. Another was a half eagle half horse, which had the loveliest fur and feathers they'd ever seen. The third was a horse with folded up wings, one most of them, besides Ayla of course, knew from old myths. The last was a Dragon, but it wasn't a full-grown Dragon, because he was just half the size.
Laze walked past the line, and watched the creatures for awhile, before turning to the four of them.
"Who takes whom?" she asked.
***Ayla's POV***
Ayla look around creatures, then walk to half lion half eagle, he be pretty! Me walk over, and look up at creature. Whoa! He be higher than Ayla! Be higher than Magus no doubt! We look each other in eye, because Ayla no want be afraid. Ayla no scared anymore! Me wonder what is.
Ayla look at Laze, and ask: "What this?"
"That, would be a Griffin, he knows a lot, and you can easily jump on his back without too much trouble."
Ayla look back up, and move around to get on back of Gry-phin. He be really high! Ayla can hardly get on! Gry-phin lower, and Ayla jump on easily. Ayla grin. He be soft too! Ayla like this!
***Lucca's POV***
I watched Ayla get on top of the Griffin, and the Griffin got back up. I hesitated for a moment, before walking to the half eagle half horse, thinking it wouldn't be that hard. However, Laze placed a strong claw on my shoulder, which is as cold as ice.
"Listen, Hippogriffs have a lot of pride, and you have to earn it first. I want you to seek eye contact with him, don't blink, and bow to him."
I looked shocked. I couldn't possibly do that!! I have too much pride for it.
"The only safe way to get on, is to have his approval. So once he bows, you're allowed to touch him."
She then softly pushed me forward, and I gulp.
I stare up at the Hippogriff, and he turns his head to stare at me with one large yellow eye. He's a dark shade of black, which is rather lovely. You can't see where the feathers end and where the fur begins. I keep eye contact, trying my best not to blink.
"Okay, now you should bow."
I gulp mentally, and lower myself to the ground on one knee, head down. I wait for awhile, and after some time, carefully look up, scared to death when the Hippogriff doesn't make a move to bow. I notice his sharp claws, and am almost shaking with fear.
"Uh-oh," I hear Laze whisper. "Move away, carefully, and then---"
Her sentence ends in a small gasp as the Hippogriff goes down to one knee, and lowers his head, actually bowing to me. I look at the Hippogriff in amazement.
"Well, guess you can touch him. Tap him on his beak," Laze tells me.
I carefully get up and move over. I lightly tap the Hippogriff on his beak, and he seems to enjoy it a lot as he closes his eyes.
"Good, now, get on his back, but be careful not to pull any feathers out, and watch out for his wings."
I walk around the Hippogriff, stroking him lightly over his head as I did so. As carefully as possible, I get on the Hippogriff's back. The Hippogriff then gets back up, and I try not to shriek in fear. After some time, I begin to rather enjoy it.
***Glenn's POV***
I looked on as Lucca stepped on top of the Hippogriff, and I know it'll probably be hard for me to get on the Dragon, seeing as I'm smaller than an average human. I guess that was why I chose the horse with wings, which was named Pegasus, if I recall correctly. Mythical creatures never were my best subjects. I stood in front of the noble steed, and it looked down at me with something that resembled a smile.
"Pegasus is a magnificent horse," Laze said, with a smirk. "With the brain, of a bird."
Pegasus placed his wings behind him like a peacock and made a rather strange noise, before looking utterly confused. I managed to mount the large steed rather easily, due to my ability to jump higher than any other human. It was rather comfortable, sitting on a horse, but the wings were what unnerved me a little.
***Magus' POV***
Well, looks like the Dragon's mine. I'm not really all that scared. Lavos is uglier than this. Dragons look rather… beautiful. I shake my head mentally, and wonder what got into me. I looked up at the Dragon, who looked down at me a little interested, and after awhile, I walked around the giant beast and hopped on easily.
Laze was watching us all intently, before nodding, and asking: "Everybody ready?"
Myself, Lucca, Glenn and Ayla nodded, but as did the four creatures we were seated upon.
Laze's wings suddenly spread out, making them appear larger than they had already, and she flapped them with such force, that she came 5 feet off of the ground with one large strike of her mighty wings, before aiming her face to the sky and flying off into the sky. I hear the Griffin shriek as he runs for awhile, with Ayla tightly hanging on to his neck, before flying after Laze, with Ayla cooing in what sounded like delight. Lucca was next as the Hippogriff gave an eagle-like cry and running for a few feet, then unfolding his wings and soaring into the sky. Lucca sounded a little frightened, and it made me chuckle. Pegasus seemed to roll his eyes, and easily took off into the air. The Dragon I was seated upon took off like Laze had done, and soon took over the lead off the entire gang, its wings clapping from right beside me.
I wonder what it would be like to fly. Of course, I could lift myself off the ground, but no more than a few inches. I gaze down upon the ground, and watch how everything looks so utterly puny from this altitude. We're flying below the clouds, and I now have a view unlike anything I've ever seen before. The Kingdom of Zeal had been afloat above the clouds, disabling almost everyone to see the ground from the altitude we were at. The sun was burning on our skins, but I couldn't care, I just watched everything below, enjoying it all, not that I would admit it to anyone.
I looked over at Lucca, who looked frightened, or rather, really scared. I had absolutely no idea what was wrong, but the way she looked down and quickly hid her face in the Hippogriff's feathers was something I hadn't seen anyone do before. Laze also noticed as she looked back, and flew a little ways back to right beside the Hippogriff, but not too close or her wings would hit the poor Hippogriff.
Somehow, I could hear every word they were saying.
"You okay?" Laze asked.
Lucca roughly shook her head, and whimpered, something I'd rarely heard from the purple haired wonder. After that last thought, I had really wanted to slap myself, but I couldn't, somehow.
"No! I wanna go down! This is scaring me like Hell!" Lucca whined like a little kid.
"Look, you're not going to drop all right!? You must have faith in this, got it?!" Laze said, but Lucca wouldn't have it, and tried to hide her entire face in the Hippogriff's feathers.
Laze sighed, and then noticed that I was observing the entire situation.
With a rather strong clap of her wings, she rose a little higher and floated over to beside me.
"What's wrong with that friend of yours? She's jumpy as Hell, honestly!" Laze asked, looking at Lucca.
"I have no idea, I've never seen anyone act like that, least of all her. Why would she be jumpy?" I asked in return.
"I wish I knew," Laze said.
"Hey, you know my name, mind me knowing your names?" she asked, looking at me.
I shrugged, not really caring. Suddenly, Laze's eyes turned violet once again, and her brows furrowed for awhile.
She gave a whistle and said: "Man, bummer. It must feel bad to have your entire Kingdom destroyed."
I looked at her with shock on my face, but she simply smirked and tapped her head and said: "I'm a mindreader, Magus."
"Whoa…" I uttered.
I looked over at Lucca, and then back to Laze.
"Then why didn't you use it on Lucca?"
"I tried, but she's far too jumpy, and I can't use Mindread on people that are so jumpy. The reason I could do it with you was because you're so calm."
I nodded, and looked back at Lucca. Almost as if reading my thoughts, the Dragon altered course so it was flying just below the Hippogriff, but not too far, that way, I could talk to Lucca without too much space between us.
"Woman!!" I shouted.
She looked down, a little frightened.
"What's wrong with you?! It's not as if you're going to drop or something!"
I had hoped that she would grow mad so she would forget her fear. No such luck.
"I-I-I c-can't help it… I'm scared!" she whimpered, burying her face in the Hippogriff's feathers.
I quirked an eyebrow at her, even though she didn't see it. Scared of what? I looked down. Oh no, don't tell me.
"Ah woman, you're not telling me you're afraid of heights are you?!"
Lucca just nodded furiously and I groaned almost angrily.
"What's so bad about this?!" I asked her.
"The Kingdom of Zeal floated higher than this, woman!"
"The Kingdom of Zeal wasn't moving around!!" she countered, and I sighed.
Alright, she had a point, but honestly, she shouldn't be so scared.
"Fear of heights??" Laze mumbled.
I could see her blinking, and she asked: "Why would someone be afraid of heights?"
"Something that happened in the past maybe, I'm not sure."
Laze looked confused, then bit her lip in thought. A wicked smirk suddenly spread on her face.
She turned to me and said: "Be ready to catch," and flew toward Lucca.
"Oh no," I whispered.
***Lucca's POV***
If I'd known we were really going to fly with these creatures I wouldn't have gotten onto this Hippogriff! I tried not to pull any feathers out as I held on for dear life, fearing that I might fall down. I can't help it! Heights always did give me the creeps when I'd almost fallen off of our island when I was little. Dad just saved me in the nick of time. Did they just expect me to lose my fear of heights by flying a Hippogriff I could easily fall off if I didn't hold on?!
Magus' yelling didn't help, it just increased my fear as he yelled at me. I thought that if I were to yell back, I'd lose my grip and fall. This was terrible! I wanted off! I wanted to go down! My rambling in my head was cut short however when four sharp claws grasped my upper-arms and my shins, before clearly pulling me from the Hippogriff, making me scream in fear. I tried to wriggle loose, knowing who was holding me.
"LAZE!!! PUT ME DOWN!!! LET GO OF ME!!!" I screamed.
I felt her wince, but I could almost feel her smirking at me.
"Have it your way, Lucca," she said, and before I could protest, she released me, shouting: "CATCH MAGUS!!!"
I screamed as I fell down with high speed, quickly placing my hands over my face. However, something stopped my fall, and I felt someone's arms around me, holding me up, D.I.D.-mode (Damsel In Distress). I peeked through my fingers, and found myself looking at Magus, who looked a little worried. I was still shaking, and he was holding me close, trying to stop it no doubt. I looked down, and noticed we were still in the air, but…
"I… I'm not afraid anymore…" I whispered, and Magus looked at me, confused.
"What?" he asked.
He allowed me to sit down. I continued to gaze down, rather confused myself.
"But… how??" I wonder aloud.
I looked up to see Laze, but she is simply flying overhead, looking around once in awhile, as if we were being watched. I turned around to face Magus, who was looking straight ahead. I too looked in that direction, but saw nothing. I leaned back, into Magus, and he flinched at the touch, then relaxed. Wonder why that was.
***Magus' POV***
Oh, nice one Laze! Why'd you have to do that?! I looked up, only to see her smirking down at me, as if she knew something we didn't. I glared angrily at her, but she took no notice of this. Instead, she looked up ahead, as if there was something there. I looked down at Lucca, and noticed she really wasn't scared anymore. But how, and why?
Suddenly, Laze halted mid-air, as did the others. Someone was flying toward us, rather fast. With a burst of light, the person stopped a couple of feet away from us. Lucca, Glenn, Ayla and I were baffled. The man hanging in front of us, had ruby-red spiked hair, emerald green eyes, a muscular build, a sword strapped around his waist, and had a pair of Angel wings protruding from his back. There was a white ribbon around his forehead, two Gold Studs in his ears, an orange bandana around his neck, he wore some brown army boots, some black jeans, a white muscle shirt and a green cardigan over it.
Lucca uttered the first word she could think of.
"Crono??"
To Be Continued…