Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN THREADS OF FATE!!!!
AN: Hello people! Here I am agaaaaaaaaain!!!! Chapter Six has arrived! Thank you so much, for the reviews, everybody! Keep 'em coming! I get inspired when I see a lot of reviews (the good ones, that is).
And so…on to Chapter six!
(Note: sentences inside are thoughts.)
~~|~~*~~|~~
1 The Sorceress' Journal
~~|~~*~~|~~
"Miiiiint!" Rue yelled as he plunged into the light.
Together with Duke, they brought their power-charged weapons crashing down upon the guardian just as Belle's magic came in contact.
The atelier was filled with the guardian's unearthly scream of defeat, but Rue's heart skipped a beat as he was blasted away by the force of the explosion. Along with the guardian's scream…was Mint's own.
Everything was engulfed in blinding white light for a few mind-wracking moments, then everything came back into focus. Rue blinked as he saw the atelier take shape around him. Duke was sprawled on the now dry floor near Belle, who was shaking rather roughly awake.
"Get up, Duke!" she said. "You beat the thing!"
Duke grumbled something that sounded like, "Just five more minutes…"
Belle shook him even harder, yelling, "GET UP!!"
With a yell, Duke sat up. "Huh? Wha—? Milady! What happened? Did we beat it? Where's Mint?"
Rue's heart leapt. "Mint? Mint!" Looking ahead of him, he gasped. Mint lay in the middle of the hall, covered with wounds and unconscious.
"Mint!" Rue flung himself at her side and lifted her up. "Mint, wake up! Say something! Mint!" He felt a sickening sensation at the pit of his stomach. It was him…he made they those cuts and injuries when he fought the guardian. What if she…
"She'll be all right," Rue heard Belle say as she and Duke came up behind him. "She's a strong one."
Rue bit his lip and looked back at Mint. Mint…please wake up…
Maybe she heard him. Mint suddenly stirred and coughed out a mouthful of water. She slowly opened her eyes and muttered, "Stupid guardian…"
Rue let out all his breath in a sigh of relief. "Mint! Thank goodness you're alive!" He seized her in a crushing hug.
Mint coughed and said, "Rue, you're—cough—choking me…"
Instantly, he released her, his cheeks flaming. Belle lifted an eyebrow at this, but only said to Mint, "How are you feeling?"
Mint stared at her with wide eyes. "Belle! Duke!"
Duke bowed gallantly. "Hello, Princess Mint! So nice to see you again."
"They came just in time to help me," said Rue with a grin. "I thought I wasn't going to be able to beat that guardian."
Mint grinned at them. "Thanks for coming to help, guys!"
Belle's eyes widened, then narrowed. She pointed a power-charged hand at Mint and said, "Okay, that's it, she's still possessed—stand back, the both of you and I'll just blast this—"
"Belle!" Rue and Mint cried over Duke's, "Milady!"
Belle laughed and shook her head. "Goodness, one can change so much over a year, huh? Now hold still, Mint, while I deal with those awful injuries."
Rue reddened and looked away. Mint saw this and muttered to him, "Don't worry. You just did what you had to."
"But—"
"Oh, shush."
Rue smiled at her. She smiled back a bit, her heart thumping, but she ignored it and nodded at Belle. She raised an eyebrow at what she saw again, but pretended not to notice. She was about to heal Mint when—
"Milady!" Duke shouted. "Look out!"
They all turned to see a dragon-like beast (like the one in Carona's ruins) about to shoot a ball of flame at them. Instantly, they reacted.
Duke pounced at Belle, getting them out of the way as Rue scooped Mint up and leapt to safety. The fireball exploded milliseconds later at where they last were.
"Are you all right, milady?" Duke asked Belle, who had a slight tint of pink in her cheeks and cleared her throat.
"Yeah," she replied. "Just dandy. I could've gotten away by myself, you know. Now get off me!"
"Oh sure, milady," Duke helped Belle up and then pulled her out of the way again with a gasp as another beat shot a fireball at them.
At the other side of the hall, Rue was stifling a cry of pain. But Mint knew something was wrong. "Rue, what happened?"
Then she saw it. Rue's back was a little burned by the fireball. Her eyes widened when she saw it.
"It's nothing," Rue said quickly. "Just a little burn, that's all."
"Rue!" Mint said fervently, and Rue knew better than to argue. He winced as Mint touched it and tried to heal it with some magic, but Rue saw danger their way as a beast went at them again.
The same instant Mint healed him, he pushed the both of them out of the way as a fireball went hurtling at them once again.
Then Mint saw something that wasn't there before. "Rue, look! The doors of the atelier are open now!"
"But what about—" Rue was cut off when several beasts came into the room, shooting fireballs at all directions.
Duke batted one away with his sword and Belle sent a blast as she yelled, "Rue, Mint, just go! We'll stay here and stop these things!"
"Yeah!" grunted Duke as he sent the beats own fireball back at it. "We'll handle this for you guys!"
"Right," nodded Rue. "Be careful!"
And with Rue still carrying Mint (AN: Remember, she's still injured), they went through the great doors.
~~|~~*~~|~~
The doors slammed closed just as Rue let Mint (who'd insisted) down, and engulfed the both of them in darkness. Mint shrieked, and Rue said, "Mint, it's all right! Don't worry, I'm here."
"Wh-where?" asked Mint.
"Right here."
"What? Oh this is getting silly—I'll just take out my Red Magic and—"
"Oh no, you don't. Don't do anything. You're still weak. Here, I'll do it."
There was the sound of someone lighting a torch, and Rue was revealed in the torch's light. Mint was right across him. She grinned and let out her breath in relief. "Rue!"
Rue was about to smile back, but he cried, "Mint! Don't move!"
"What? Why?" Mint turned behind her to see that she was standing at the edge of a great pit. She screamed as she teetered over the edge, and Rue leapt forward, grabbing her hand and pulling her back up. As he pulled her to safety, Mint let out her breath, "Oh, thank goodness…"
"You okay? That was a close one there," Rue looked at her.
"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks," she replied, smiling at him.
Rue reddened at her smile, looked away and said, "So what now?"
Just then, the torch went out. Mint gasped again. "What happened?"
"I don't know, it just went out…" Now Rue was nervous too. There was absolutely no wind, but the torch went out like a birthday candle. Something was wrong here.
There was a moment of silence. "We have to get a light or we can't move," said Mint.
Rue looked up and said, "How about that?"
"Huh?" he heard Mint say.
They both looked up and saw what seemed like a dimly glowing orb in the ceiling. "Oh you can't be serious," said Mint. "I mean we didn't even notice that thing until now."
"Well…I think…we're supposed to break it…" said Rue slowly.
"What?" asked Mint. "How do you know that?"
"I just…do," said Rue, sounding puzzled. "I just thought of it all of a sudden… Like I knew it all the time…"
"This is getting seriously weird," said Mint. She sighed. "All right. It's worth a shot. I'll do it." Rue was about to protest when she said, "Not a word from you."
Rue sighed and surrendered.
Mint's face was illuminated for a brief instant when she released Vulcan magic again. It shot up like a comet and broke the orb. The orb shot a ray of light downwards, and down to the pit, it seemed. Suddenly, the entire room burst into light.
The two adventurers cried out as the sudden light hurt their eyes, but as soon as everything came to focus, they saw that they were in a huge room flanked with pillars once again. Across them was a huge pit with intricate gold writings all around its inside.
The two looked at each other, them moved to the edge of the pit and looked down. It was rather steep, but they saw that the bottom was completely still clear water, reflecting like glass. In the center, was a golden island and on it was a bejeweled pulpit. Resting on the pulpit was a leather book with jewels embedded on it. It looked like it was glowing.
"What is that?" Mint whispered.
"Maybe it's hers," said Rue, pointing to a painting on the other side of the pit.
Mint looked and recognized the woman she'd seen on the ceiling in the other room. "So is she the Master Sorceress?"
"I guess," replied Rue. He stared at the painting. "She looks familiar…"
"She's pretty…" said Mint with a smile.
That's because she looks a little like you, Rue thought. Hold on. What am I thinking? Geez, Rue, get a grip!
"Mint, we'd better get to that book," said Rue. "It's got to be what we're looking for."
"Right," nodded Mint. "But how do we get down there?"
As soon as she said this, the still water began to ripple, and a set of crystal steps rose from the ripples and stopped right at where Rue and Mint stood. They looked at each other, completely bewildered.
"Do you think it's safe?" asked Mint. She had a reason to worry. After all, the steps were supported by absolutely nothing at all.
"I'll go first," said Rue.
Mint bit her lip as Rue tentatively stepped onto the first step. It was solid. "It's okay," he told her. "Come on."
Tentatively, the both of them descended the steps and reached the island in the middle. "Wow…" said Mint. "This is so…strange…"
"What is?" asked Rue, looking at her.
"I'm not sure…" said Mint. "I have a feeling of déjà vu. Almost like I've been here before…"
"Yeah, me too," said Rue, confused. "But why?"
Mint stared at him, then shook her head. She turned to the pulpit. "There's the book. Let's see what it says.
"Be careful, Mint," said Rue.
Mint reached out to touch the book, but before she could touch it, it glowed, and suddenly opened. The wind rose in the room and began turning the book's pages.
"It—it's all blank!" cried Mint over the howling wind.
Rue could say anything until the book slammed shut and the wind died. He was panting as he asked, "What the heck was that?"
Mint, now trembling, reach out and opened the book. She stared as letters spiraled into the page in normal writing. Shakily, she read, "This is…this is the journal…of Master Sorceress Eiries."
"The Master Sorceress' journal?" Rue asked. "That must be important then. Come on. Let's go."
"H-hold on," Mint stammered. "Look!"
She kept reading, "This…this is a legend never told…not even to sorcerers… A legend of a [Relic]…a [Relic] created by two…who would never be…together."
A chill went up their spines. Rue let out his breath. "I think that's enough information for now."
Mint nodded and shut the book. Suddenly, the entire atelier began shaking!
"Mint, this place is collapsing!" Rue gasped. "Let's move!"
Running, the two of them raced up the collapsing stairs. Debris was falling from the ceiling as they went, and the water was splashing around.
Recing to the door, they flung it open to be met by a scene of flynig magic, fireballs and demon-creatures. Duke and Belle were holding their own.
"Rue! Mint! We have to bail out of here!" Belle yelled. "This place is going down!"
"We know!" they yelled as they ran to the two. "Let's go!"
"The entrance!" Duke cried. "Hurry milady!"
The atelier began to crumble in on them, and they all leapt out of the hall and into the collapsing cavern. They saw Klaus back in the cavern, holding onto the wall. "You're all back! Hurry!"
They didn't need second telling. Running desperately, they leapt for the rising platform and jumped out of the tar pit just as everything behind them exploded.
AN: Yaaay! Chapter Six is finished! Please review! I wanna hear what you think of the story so far!
AN: Hello people! Here I am agaaaaaaaaain!!!! Chapter Six has arrived! Thank you so much, for the reviews, everybody! Keep 'em coming! I get inspired when I see a lot of reviews (the good ones, that is).
And so…on to Chapter six!
(Note: sentences inside are thoughts.)
~~|~~*~~|~~
1 The Sorceress' Journal
~~|~~*~~|~~
"Miiiiint!" Rue yelled as he plunged into the light.
Together with Duke, they brought their power-charged weapons crashing down upon the guardian just as Belle's magic came in contact.
The atelier was filled with the guardian's unearthly scream of defeat, but Rue's heart skipped a beat as he was blasted away by the force of the explosion. Along with the guardian's scream…was Mint's own.
Everything was engulfed in blinding white light for a few mind-wracking moments, then everything came back into focus. Rue blinked as he saw the atelier take shape around him. Duke was sprawled on the now dry floor near Belle, who was shaking rather roughly awake.
"Get up, Duke!" she said. "You beat the thing!"
Duke grumbled something that sounded like, "Just five more minutes…"
Belle shook him even harder, yelling, "GET UP!!"
With a yell, Duke sat up. "Huh? Wha—? Milady! What happened? Did we beat it? Where's Mint?"
Rue's heart leapt. "Mint? Mint!" Looking ahead of him, he gasped. Mint lay in the middle of the hall, covered with wounds and unconscious.
"Mint!" Rue flung himself at her side and lifted her up. "Mint, wake up! Say something! Mint!" He felt a sickening sensation at the pit of his stomach. It was him…he made they those cuts and injuries when he fought the guardian. What if she…
"She'll be all right," Rue heard Belle say as she and Duke came up behind him. "She's a strong one."
Rue bit his lip and looked back at Mint. Mint…please wake up…
Maybe she heard him. Mint suddenly stirred and coughed out a mouthful of water. She slowly opened her eyes and muttered, "Stupid guardian…"
Rue let out all his breath in a sigh of relief. "Mint! Thank goodness you're alive!" He seized her in a crushing hug.
Mint coughed and said, "Rue, you're—cough—choking me…"
Instantly, he released her, his cheeks flaming. Belle lifted an eyebrow at this, but only said to Mint, "How are you feeling?"
Mint stared at her with wide eyes. "Belle! Duke!"
Duke bowed gallantly. "Hello, Princess Mint! So nice to see you again."
"They came just in time to help me," said Rue with a grin. "I thought I wasn't going to be able to beat that guardian."
Mint grinned at them. "Thanks for coming to help, guys!"
Belle's eyes widened, then narrowed. She pointed a power-charged hand at Mint and said, "Okay, that's it, she's still possessed—stand back, the both of you and I'll just blast this—"
"Belle!" Rue and Mint cried over Duke's, "Milady!"
Belle laughed and shook her head. "Goodness, one can change so much over a year, huh? Now hold still, Mint, while I deal with those awful injuries."
Rue reddened and looked away. Mint saw this and muttered to him, "Don't worry. You just did what you had to."
"But—"
"Oh, shush."
Rue smiled at her. She smiled back a bit, her heart thumping, but she ignored it and nodded at Belle. She raised an eyebrow at what she saw again, but pretended not to notice. She was about to heal Mint when—
"Milady!" Duke shouted. "Look out!"
They all turned to see a dragon-like beast (like the one in Carona's ruins) about to shoot a ball of flame at them. Instantly, they reacted.
Duke pounced at Belle, getting them out of the way as Rue scooped Mint up and leapt to safety. The fireball exploded milliseconds later at where they last were.
"Are you all right, milady?" Duke asked Belle, who had a slight tint of pink in her cheeks and cleared her throat.
"Yeah," she replied. "Just dandy. I could've gotten away by myself, you know. Now get off me!"
"Oh sure, milady," Duke helped Belle up and then pulled her out of the way again with a gasp as another beat shot a fireball at them.
At the other side of the hall, Rue was stifling a cry of pain. But Mint knew something was wrong. "Rue, what happened?"
Then she saw it. Rue's back was a little burned by the fireball. Her eyes widened when she saw it.
"It's nothing," Rue said quickly. "Just a little burn, that's all."
"Rue!" Mint said fervently, and Rue knew better than to argue. He winced as Mint touched it and tried to heal it with some magic, but Rue saw danger their way as a beast went at them again.
The same instant Mint healed him, he pushed the both of them out of the way as a fireball went hurtling at them once again.
Then Mint saw something that wasn't there before. "Rue, look! The doors of the atelier are open now!"
"But what about—" Rue was cut off when several beasts came into the room, shooting fireballs at all directions.
Duke batted one away with his sword and Belle sent a blast as she yelled, "Rue, Mint, just go! We'll stay here and stop these things!"
"Yeah!" grunted Duke as he sent the beats own fireball back at it. "We'll handle this for you guys!"
"Right," nodded Rue. "Be careful!"
And with Rue still carrying Mint (AN: Remember, she's still injured), they went through the great doors.
~~|~~*~~|~~
The doors slammed closed just as Rue let Mint (who'd insisted) down, and engulfed the both of them in darkness. Mint shrieked, and Rue said, "Mint, it's all right! Don't worry, I'm here."
"Wh-where?" asked Mint.
"Right here."
"What? Oh this is getting silly—I'll just take out my Red Magic and—"
"Oh no, you don't. Don't do anything. You're still weak. Here, I'll do it."
There was the sound of someone lighting a torch, and Rue was revealed in the torch's light. Mint was right across him. She grinned and let out her breath in relief. "Rue!"
Rue was about to smile back, but he cried, "Mint! Don't move!"
"What? Why?" Mint turned behind her to see that she was standing at the edge of a great pit. She screamed as she teetered over the edge, and Rue leapt forward, grabbing her hand and pulling her back up. As he pulled her to safety, Mint let out her breath, "Oh, thank goodness…"
"You okay? That was a close one there," Rue looked at her.
"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks," she replied, smiling at him.
Rue reddened at her smile, looked away and said, "So what now?"
Just then, the torch went out. Mint gasped again. "What happened?"
"I don't know, it just went out…" Now Rue was nervous too. There was absolutely no wind, but the torch went out like a birthday candle. Something was wrong here.
There was a moment of silence. "We have to get a light or we can't move," said Mint.
Rue looked up and said, "How about that?"
"Huh?" he heard Mint say.
They both looked up and saw what seemed like a dimly glowing orb in the ceiling. "Oh you can't be serious," said Mint. "I mean we didn't even notice that thing until now."
"Well…I think…we're supposed to break it…" said Rue slowly.
"What?" asked Mint. "How do you know that?"
"I just…do," said Rue, sounding puzzled. "I just thought of it all of a sudden… Like I knew it all the time…"
"This is getting seriously weird," said Mint. She sighed. "All right. It's worth a shot. I'll do it." Rue was about to protest when she said, "Not a word from you."
Rue sighed and surrendered.
Mint's face was illuminated for a brief instant when she released Vulcan magic again. It shot up like a comet and broke the orb. The orb shot a ray of light downwards, and down to the pit, it seemed. Suddenly, the entire room burst into light.
The two adventurers cried out as the sudden light hurt their eyes, but as soon as everything came to focus, they saw that they were in a huge room flanked with pillars once again. Across them was a huge pit with intricate gold writings all around its inside.
The two looked at each other, them moved to the edge of the pit and looked down. It was rather steep, but they saw that the bottom was completely still clear water, reflecting like glass. In the center, was a golden island and on it was a bejeweled pulpit. Resting on the pulpit was a leather book with jewels embedded on it. It looked like it was glowing.
"What is that?" Mint whispered.
"Maybe it's hers," said Rue, pointing to a painting on the other side of the pit.
Mint looked and recognized the woman she'd seen on the ceiling in the other room. "So is she the Master Sorceress?"
"I guess," replied Rue. He stared at the painting. "She looks familiar…"
"She's pretty…" said Mint with a smile.
That's because she looks a little like you, Rue thought. Hold on. What am I thinking? Geez, Rue, get a grip!
"Mint, we'd better get to that book," said Rue. "It's got to be what we're looking for."
"Right," nodded Mint. "But how do we get down there?"
As soon as she said this, the still water began to ripple, and a set of crystal steps rose from the ripples and stopped right at where Rue and Mint stood. They looked at each other, completely bewildered.
"Do you think it's safe?" asked Mint. She had a reason to worry. After all, the steps were supported by absolutely nothing at all.
"I'll go first," said Rue.
Mint bit her lip as Rue tentatively stepped onto the first step. It was solid. "It's okay," he told her. "Come on."
Tentatively, the both of them descended the steps and reached the island in the middle. "Wow…" said Mint. "This is so…strange…"
"What is?" asked Rue, looking at her.
"I'm not sure…" said Mint. "I have a feeling of déjà vu. Almost like I've been here before…"
"Yeah, me too," said Rue, confused. "But why?"
Mint stared at him, then shook her head. She turned to the pulpit. "There's the book. Let's see what it says.
"Be careful, Mint," said Rue.
Mint reached out to touch the book, but before she could touch it, it glowed, and suddenly opened. The wind rose in the room and began turning the book's pages.
"It—it's all blank!" cried Mint over the howling wind.
Rue could say anything until the book slammed shut and the wind died. He was panting as he asked, "What the heck was that?"
Mint, now trembling, reach out and opened the book. She stared as letters spiraled into the page in normal writing. Shakily, she read, "This is…this is the journal…of Master Sorceress Eiries."
"The Master Sorceress' journal?" Rue asked. "That must be important then. Come on. Let's go."
"H-hold on," Mint stammered. "Look!"
She kept reading, "This…this is a legend never told…not even to sorcerers… A legend of a [Relic]…a [Relic] created by two…who would never be…together."
A chill went up their spines. Rue let out his breath. "I think that's enough information for now."
Mint nodded and shut the book. Suddenly, the entire atelier began shaking!
"Mint, this place is collapsing!" Rue gasped. "Let's move!"
Running, the two of them raced up the collapsing stairs. Debris was falling from the ceiling as they went, and the water was splashing around.
Recing to the door, they flung it open to be met by a scene of flynig magic, fireballs and demon-creatures. Duke and Belle were holding their own.
"Rue! Mint! We have to bail out of here!" Belle yelled. "This place is going down!"
"We know!" they yelled as they ran to the two. "Let's go!"
"The entrance!" Duke cried. "Hurry milady!"
The atelier began to crumble in on them, and they all leapt out of the hall and into the collapsing cavern. They saw Klaus back in the cavern, holding onto the wall. "You're all back! Hurry!"
They didn't need second telling. Running desperately, they leapt for the rising platform and jumped out of the tar pit just as everything behind them exploded.
AN: Yaaay! Chapter Six is finished! Please review! I wanna hear what you think of the story so far!