1 Heraldic Mage
Disclaimer: I still own nothing.
"ENERGY ARROW!!" I hurl arrow after arrow at him, while Claude is going at him with his sword. We have been at it a while now, and we are not really sure when we will get through this. The Boss of the Bandits doesn't even seem to be slowing down. I keep on him, using different spells just trying to get his attention so Claude can use some of the blueberries. But it doesn't seem to be working. Finally, with a last-ditch effort, Claude pulls off a head-splitter and finishes the job. The monster Boss of the Bandits is finally defeated… permanently. Claude sinks down to his knees. I rush over and quickly give him some blueberries. We only found one pack of smelling salts on the way here, and Rena has the Resurrection Bottles, so we can't lose him. After a few moments, Claude seems all right. He gets up slowly.
"That was more than necessary." He says looking at the form of the Boss. I just sigh. That was way too close for comfort. Claude looks at me.
"We must return to the village." He says. I sigh. I'm sorry Father, but not yet.
"No Claude. We must find the children first. We can't let this happen again." Claude looks at me like I grew another head, but doesn't argue. As we turn to head on, Rena and Dias come up to us. They can't miss the body on the ground. Rena looks like she will be sick, but Dias acts like this is normal. I am not really sure what to think of that.
"Rena!" Claude shouts. Rena looks up.
"Claude, Celine! What is this?" she asks. I nod to Claude.
"This is the true form of the Master of Heraldy in the Elder's house." He says. Rena looks up suddenly.
"The Boss of the Bandits…" she says, almost whispering. Dias turns to Claude.
"Did you slay this one?" he asks. Claude looks at him a moment. Then at me. Why me?
"Yes…" he says slowly. "But with Celine's help." I can't believe him. He has a chance to show off, and he is completely ignoring it. That is not something you see in a person everyday. I nod approving.
"Then perhaps you are not an encumbrance. I look forward to crossing paths again." With that, Dias just leaves. I turn to Rena.
"So where were you anyway?" I ask.
"We released the children from a cabin not far from here." She says. Claude suddenly lights up.
"We must return to the village!" he says. We all rush back to Mars.
**Mars Village, a few hours later**
Father has finally woken up. Rena's spells did it. I sigh with relief. I was so worried….
"Hey Celine, Labe…" Father says. He still sounds a bit weak.
"Father!" I cry. He smiles at me. Rena leaves so we can have some family time.
"I hear you are quite the heroine, Celine." Father says. I don't understand what he means by that.
"Father?" I ask. He just smiles at me. But before he can say anything, the Elder walks in.
"Thank Tria you are all right." He says.
"Don't worry Elder," Father says. "You can't get rid of me that easily." We all laugh. It just feels so good.
**a couple more hours later**
I am sitting in my room. My rod is on the bed next to me. I sit near the window, looking out. This was one monster of a day. Something catches my eye, and I look closer. Rena and Claude are leaving!? Oh no they don't. I quickly rush outside and yell for them to stop. They do and turn around. I run up to them.
"And just where do you think you are going?" I ask. They look at me.
"Is Eglas all right?" Claude asks. I nod.
"If you are worried about Father, don't. Rena's spells are just magnificent." Rena blushes.
"You flatter me." She says. I just smile.
"We better get going." Claude says. "The sun will be down soon." I shake my head. Oh no you don't.
"So, to express our gratitude, please stay at my house for the night." They don't look too certain.
"Are you sure?" Rena says.
"Of course! Or did you forget that you were heroes today."
"What about Dias?" Claude asks. I frown.
"He left long ago. Don't worry, we'll see him again." I have an annoyance quota to fill whenever I travel. And I haven't come anywhere close to it yet. Of course, there is no need to share that with them. So I just lead them "gently" to my house. When we enter, we can smell Mother's cooking. Rena begins to look homesick. Where did she say she was from… Arlia? Maybe we should pay a visit there sometime. Mother tells us that dinner is ready, and we all sit at the table.
**Next Morning**
Seeing us to the gates of town seems a little overboard to me, but my parents will not be persuaded. Oh well. I don't mind it as much as one might think. When we reach the gates, we turn to them.
"You be careful now. The roads are becoming more and more dangerous." Father says.
"Don't worry." I reply to him.
"Don't go anywhere near the Sorcery Globe. It's too dangerous." Mother is always worried about everything.
"There is nothing to worry about. Claude and Rena are with me." Mother seems to think about it a moment, then decide not to say anything.
"Well, then. All that is left is one last thing." Father says handing us the book we found in Cross Cave. "Even the Elder can't make heads or tails of it. So, since you are going to be on Lacour anyway, why don't you bring this to Linga? Surely there must be a linguist there who can read it." Claude takes the book and puts it in the pack.
"We will do that as soon as possible." He says. Then we turn and head for Herlie.
**a little later (A/N: so I'm lazy, otherwise you would see "we're walking, we're walking…", etc.)**
Seeing this town again is a total experience. When I last came here, the shops were all open, everyone was trying to see and be everywhere at once. Now, the place may as well be deserted. We head for the inn, and get a couple of rooms. Rena and I head for ours, while Claude is in his. I lay out on the bed. Rena is staring out the window.
"Hey Rena," I say, "You're right."
"Huh?" She turns to me.
"About Claude. What you said in Clik. We do need another fighter." She sighs, and then sits on the other bed.
"So where do we look?" she asks. I just shake my head.
"I have no idea." I stare at the ceiling for a while… then fall asleep.
I awake with the sun, no surprise there. I always loved the morning. Rena is already awake. I didn't really expect that. We head out, and knock on Claude's door. Better to miss the crowd. After about 10 minutes of hearing 'Just a minute' and 'I'm coming, really!' Claude finally comes out ready to go. We leave the inn and head for the ships. Claude walks up to the harbormaster and speaks with him a moment. When he returns, he is not happy.
"We can't cross." He says. I am in shock. Not Lacour too!
"What do you mean we can't cross!?" Rena practically shouts. I put my hand on her shoulder. Getting upset won't help us any. She calms down.
"The harbor master says all ships are docked until the problem in Salva has been resolved." Salva!?
"Salva!?" Rena is as outraged as I am. "What could possibly be happening in Salva that would affect Herlie!?" Good question.
"A dragon." Claude says. I just stand there and stare at him. A Dragon. You've got to be kidding me.
"Well, let's go take care of it then." Rena says. I just shake my head and follow.
**Next stop: Salva**
Claude is starting to have an easier time of the monsters, but we will still need more than that if we are going to get near the Sorcery Globe. When we reach Salva, there are numerous people around. We are quickly able to find out that that dragon is in the Salva Drift. As we head in, Claude is once again the brunt of the attacks. Rena is able to cast a couple of attack spells, but can't since she is healing Claude. I throw every attack I can at them. Finally, there is a lull in the monster attacks. I look around at this place. It is actually pretty. As I am admiring the sparkling walls, Claude and Rena suddenly stop, and I end up crashing into them.
"Why are we stopping?" I ask. Claude turns to me.
"We saw someone else up ahead." He says. Ah. I see.
"He must be here to slay the dragon as well." I say. They both nod.
"Perhaps. Well, lets go." We all start moving again. Soon, we are able to find the dragon… and a young man already fighting it. I look at the dragon for the first time… and am shocked to see two heads! The young man is valiantly fighting it with his short swords. He is getting some pretty good hits in, but doesn't seem to be doing much damage. It is like… the dragon is toying with him, waiting for something.
"Fight!" I turn and see that Claude and Rena have taken it on themselves to be a cheering section. I stay quiet. Finally, the young man turns to us.
"Would you mind keeping it down?" he says. I look up, and see the dragon closing in!
"LOOK OUT!" I cry. He turns around, and there is a bright flash, then… nothing. I rub my eyes trying to clear them. When my vision finally returns, I look around. Claude and Rena are still recovering, but the young man and the dragon are gone.
"What… what happened?" Rena asks. I am not sure myself. Before I can respond, the young man comes back. But something different is there.
"Excuse me…" he says. "Have you seen the dragon?" he looks around, giving us a perfect view of what happened. The dragons possessed him. He turns to us again. "I'M ASKING YOU A QUESTION!" he says.
"Your back…" Claude finally responds. The young man stares at us for a few moments, letting that simple statement sink in.
"No…" he finally says.
"At least you are still alive." Rena says. He looks right at her.
"You call this good?!" Geez, chill out.
"You don't need to yell at her darling." I say. He looks at me, then at all of us.
"Will you take responsibility for this?" he asks. What? Why should we?
"Wha?" Rena beats me to it.
"Will you take responsibility for making me damaged goods." He says. We all group for a moment.
"Well?" Claude asks.
"We should do something for him…" Rena says.
"Don't we have a mission?" I remind them.
"We need another fighter to help Claude." Rena says, then quickly puts her hand over her mouth. Claude just looks at her.
"I don't know what your problem is…" he says. "I don't mind help. If we can find it anyway."
"Maybe we should help him then." I say. We all agree. We turn back to him. He hasn't budged.
"All right, we'll take responsibility." Claude says. He lights up.
"Good! Now, allow me to introduce myself. I am Ashton Anchors." He gives us a small bow.
"I'm Rena." Rena starts. Then she points to Claude and me. "This is Claude and Celine." Ashton gives us both a small bow.
"So how do we start?" he asks.
"How about we get out of here and into safer surroundings." I suggest. We all head out. As we are, we notice that it is a lot quicker cutting through the monsters. Ashton is really clever with those short swords. Claude doesn't need as much healing either. After we are out and at the gates, we turn to Ashton.
"OK, so how do we start?" Claude asks. Ashton looks down.
"No idea." He says. The dragons apparently want a say in this.
"What are they saying?" Claude asks.
"They are saying 'of course you won't understand'." Ashton translates. Claude turns red.
"Aren't they cute though?" Rena says. I look at her, then at the two dragons. I don't see it.
"You're kidding, right?" Ashton asks. Apparently, he doesn't either.
"Can I give them names?" Rena asks. Claude looks like he is trying not to scream.
"I don't really care." Ashton says. Rena goes up to them.
"I'll call this one Gyoro, and this one Urunun." I just roll my eyes.
"Fine, they have names now. So how do I get rid of them?" Ashton is really impatient. Can't really blame him though.
"What about some books?" Claude says.
"Books?" Ashton is not really sure what he means. I want to hit him on the head with one, but I don't think that is what Claude has in mind.
"There must be some book about exorcism." He says.
"The Mars Elder practically has his own library. We could look there." I say.
"Then let's go." We all head back to Mars.
To be continued…
Disclaimer: I still own nothing.
"ENERGY ARROW!!" I hurl arrow after arrow at him, while Claude is going at him with his sword. We have been at it a while now, and we are not really sure when we will get through this. The Boss of the Bandits doesn't even seem to be slowing down. I keep on him, using different spells just trying to get his attention so Claude can use some of the blueberries. But it doesn't seem to be working. Finally, with a last-ditch effort, Claude pulls off a head-splitter and finishes the job. The monster Boss of the Bandits is finally defeated… permanently. Claude sinks down to his knees. I rush over and quickly give him some blueberries. We only found one pack of smelling salts on the way here, and Rena has the Resurrection Bottles, so we can't lose him. After a few moments, Claude seems all right. He gets up slowly.
"That was more than necessary." He says looking at the form of the Boss. I just sigh. That was way too close for comfort. Claude looks at me.
"We must return to the village." He says. I sigh. I'm sorry Father, but not yet.
"No Claude. We must find the children first. We can't let this happen again." Claude looks at me like I grew another head, but doesn't argue. As we turn to head on, Rena and Dias come up to us. They can't miss the body on the ground. Rena looks like she will be sick, but Dias acts like this is normal. I am not really sure what to think of that.
"Rena!" Claude shouts. Rena looks up.
"Claude, Celine! What is this?" she asks. I nod to Claude.
"This is the true form of the Master of Heraldy in the Elder's house." He says. Rena looks up suddenly.
"The Boss of the Bandits…" she says, almost whispering. Dias turns to Claude.
"Did you slay this one?" he asks. Claude looks at him a moment. Then at me. Why me?
"Yes…" he says slowly. "But with Celine's help." I can't believe him. He has a chance to show off, and he is completely ignoring it. That is not something you see in a person everyday. I nod approving.
"Then perhaps you are not an encumbrance. I look forward to crossing paths again." With that, Dias just leaves. I turn to Rena.
"So where were you anyway?" I ask.
"We released the children from a cabin not far from here." She says. Claude suddenly lights up.
"We must return to the village!" he says. We all rush back to Mars.
**Mars Village, a few hours later**
Father has finally woken up. Rena's spells did it. I sigh with relief. I was so worried….
"Hey Celine, Labe…" Father says. He still sounds a bit weak.
"Father!" I cry. He smiles at me. Rena leaves so we can have some family time.
"I hear you are quite the heroine, Celine." Father says. I don't understand what he means by that.
"Father?" I ask. He just smiles at me. But before he can say anything, the Elder walks in.
"Thank Tria you are all right." He says.
"Don't worry Elder," Father says. "You can't get rid of me that easily." We all laugh. It just feels so good.
**a couple more hours later**
I am sitting in my room. My rod is on the bed next to me. I sit near the window, looking out. This was one monster of a day. Something catches my eye, and I look closer. Rena and Claude are leaving!? Oh no they don't. I quickly rush outside and yell for them to stop. They do and turn around. I run up to them.
"And just where do you think you are going?" I ask. They look at me.
"Is Eglas all right?" Claude asks. I nod.
"If you are worried about Father, don't. Rena's spells are just magnificent." Rena blushes.
"You flatter me." She says. I just smile.
"We better get going." Claude says. "The sun will be down soon." I shake my head. Oh no you don't.
"So, to express our gratitude, please stay at my house for the night." They don't look too certain.
"Are you sure?" Rena says.
"Of course! Or did you forget that you were heroes today."
"What about Dias?" Claude asks. I frown.
"He left long ago. Don't worry, we'll see him again." I have an annoyance quota to fill whenever I travel. And I haven't come anywhere close to it yet. Of course, there is no need to share that with them. So I just lead them "gently" to my house. When we enter, we can smell Mother's cooking. Rena begins to look homesick. Where did she say she was from… Arlia? Maybe we should pay a visit there sometime. Mother tells us that dinner is ready, and we all sit at the table.
**Next Morning**
Seeing us to the gates of town seems a little overboard to me, but my parents will not be persuaded. Oh well. I don't mind it as much as one might think. When we reach the gates, we turn to them.
"You be careful now. The roads are becoming more and more dangerous." Father says.
"Don't worry." I reply to him.
"Don't go anywhere near the Sorcery Globe. It's too dangerous." Mother is always worried about everything.
"There is nothing to worry about. Claude and Rena are with me." Mother seems to think about it a moment, then decide not to say anything.
"Well, then. All that is left is one last thing." Father says handing us the book we found in Cross Cave. "Even the Elder can't make heads or tails of it. So, since you are going to be on Lacour anyway, why don't you bring this to Linga? Surely there must be a linguist there who can read it." Claude takes the book and puts it in the pack.
"We will do that as soon as possible." He says. Then we turn and head for Herlie.
**a little later (A/N: so I'm lazy, otherwise you would see "we're walking, we're walking…", etc.)**
Seeing this town again is a total experience. When I last came here, the shops were all open, everyone was trying to see and be everywhere at once. Now, the place may as well be deserted. We head for the inn, and get a couple of rooms. Rena and I head for ours, while Claude is in his. I lay out on the bed. Rena is staring out the window.
"Hey Rena," I say, "You're right."
"Huh?" She turns to me.
"About Claude. What you said in Clik. We do need another fighter." She sighs, and then sits on the other bed.
"So where do we look?" she asks. I just shake my head.
"I have no idea." I stare at the ceiling for a while… then fall asleep.
I awake with the sun, no surprise there. I always loved the morning. Rena is already awake. I didn't really expect that. We head out, and knock on Claude's door. Better to miss the crowd. After about 10 minutes of hearing 'Just a minute' and 'I'm coming, really!' Claude finally comes out ready to go. We leave the inn and head for the ships. Claude walks up to the harbormaster and speaks with him a moment. When he returns, he is not happy.
"We can't cross." He says. I am in shock. Not Lacour too!
"What do you mean we can't cross!?" Rena practically shouts. I put my hand on her shoulder. Getting upset won't help us any. She calms down.
"The harbor master says all ships are docked until the problem in Salva has been resolved." Salva!?
"Salva!?" Rena is as outraged as I am. "What could possibly be happening in Salva that would affect Herlie!?" Good question.
"A dragon." Claude says. I just stand there and stare at him. A Dragon. You've got to be kidding me.
"Well, let's go take care of it then." Rena says. I just shake my head and follow.
**Next stop: Salva**
Claude is starting to have an easier time of the monsters, but we will still need more than that if we are going to get near the Sorcery Globe. When we reach Salva, there are numerous people around. We are quickly able to find out that that dragon is in the Salva Drift. As we head in, Claude is once again the brunt of the attacks. Rena is able to cast a couple of attack spells, but can't since she is healing Claude. I throw every attack I can at them. Finally, there is a lull in the monster attacks. I look around at this place. It is actually pretty. As I am admiring the sparkling walls, Claude and Rena suddenly stop, and I end up crashing into them.
"Why are we stopping?" I ask. Claude turns to me.
"We saw someone else up ahead." He says. Ah. I see.
"He must be here to slay the dragon as well." I say. They both nod.
"Perhaps. Well, lets go." We all start moving again. Soon, we are able to find the dragon… and a young man already fighting it. I look at the dragon for the first time… and am shocked to see two heads! The young man is valiantly fighting it with his short swords. He is getting some pretty good hits in, but doesn't seem to be doing much damage. It is like… the dragon is toying with him, waiting for something.
"Fight!" I turn and see that Claude and Rena have taken it on themselves to be a cheering section. I stay quiet. Finally, the young man turns to us.
"Would you mind keeping it down?" he says. I look up, and see the dragon closing in!
"LOOK OUT!" I cry. He turns around, and there is a bright flash, then… nothing. I rub my eyes trying to clear them. When my vision finally returns, I look around. Claude and Rena are still recovering, but the young man and the dragon are gone.
"What… what happened?" Rena asks. I am not sure myself. Before I can respond, the young man comes back. But something different is there.
"Excuse me…" he says. "Have you seen the dragon?" he looks around, giving us a perfect view of what happened. The dragons possessed him. He turns to us again. "I'M ASKING YOU A QUESTION!" he says.
"Your back…" Claude finally responds. The young man stares at us for a few moments, letting that simple statement sink in.
"No…" he finally says.
"At least you are still alive." Rena says. He looks right at her.
"You call this good?!" Geez, chill out.
"You don't need to yell at her darling." I say. He looks at me, then at all of us.
"Will you take responsibility for this?" he asks. What? Why should we?
"Wha?" Rena beats me to it.
"Will you take responsibility for making me damaged goods." He says. We all group for a moment.
"Well?" Claude asks.
"We should do something for him…" Rena says.
"Don't we have a mission?" I remind them.
"We need another fighter to help Claude." Rena says, then quickly puts her hand over her mouth. Claude just looks at her.
"I don't know what your problem is…" he says. "I don't mind help. If we can find it anyway."
"Maybe we should help him then." I say. We all agree. We turn back to him. He hasn't budged.
"All right, we'll take responsibility." Claude says. He lights up.
"Good! Now, allow me to introduce myself. I am Ashton Anchors." He gives us a small bow.
"I'm Rena." Rena starts. Then she points to Claude and me. "This is Claude and Celine." Ashton gives us both a small bow.
"So how do we start?" he asks.
"How about we get out of here and into safer surroundings." I suggest. We all head out. As we are, we notice that it is a lot quicker cutting through the monsters. Ashton is really clever with those short swords. Claude doesn't need as much healing either. After we are out and at the gates, we turn to Ashton.
"OK, so how do we start?" Claude asks. Ashton looks down.
"No idea." He says. The dragons apparently want a say in this.
"What are they saying?" Claude asks.
"They are saying 'of course you won't understand'." Ashton translates. Claude turns red.
"Aren't they cute though?" Rena says. I look at her, then at the two dragons. I don't see it.
"You're kidding, right?" Ashton asks. Apparently, he doesn't either.
"Can I give them names?" Rena asks. Claude looks like he is trying not to scream.
"I don't really care." Ashton says. Rena goes up to them.
"I'll call this one Gyoro, and this one Urunun." I just roll my eyes.
"Fine, they have names now. So how do I get rid of them?" Ashton is really impatient. Can't really blame him though.
"What about some books?" Claude says.
"Books?" Ashton is not really sure what he means. I want to hit him on the head with one, but I don't think that is what Claude has in mind.
"There must be some book about exorcism." He says.
"The Mars Elder practically has his own library. We could look there." I say.
"Then let's go." We all head back to Mars.
To be continued…