Chapter 6
Redemption
Diss lay still on the bed. Shaun sat in the chair next to him as Paul sat in an enclosed room nearby. Shortly after a man entered the room.
"The patient is weak, you might want to rest while he regains his strength," The man said softly.
"Doc, I wont move from here unless two things happen. One, his fiancée walks through that door, or two Paul walks through that door. The first is about as likely as thunder striking on a clear day, and the other is in serious doubt," Shaun said quietly.
Diss stirred in his sleep softly groaning. Shaun turned his attention instantly to Diss. Diss seemed to start coming up, and then fell back under into a deep sleep. He sighed; this was the fifth false alarm Diss had given.
"Alright man, but I wouldn't suggest getting your hopes up. He's weak and there is nothing I can do to help him. From what you told me, he should be all right. There's nothing wrong with him from what I can tell," The doctor said as he left.
Shaun looked at Diss wishing he were awake. Paul walked in slowly and looked guiltily at Diss.
"Is he alright?" Paul asked quietly.
"The water burned him pretty badly, I don't know what's going on in there," Shaun replied.
"Christy is going to kill me," Paul groaned.
Diss slowly stirred. All eyes in the room turned to him as he groaned. Diss started sitting up as he clutched his head before falling back on the pillow. He sighed as he groaned again.
"Diss?" Shaun asked quietly.
Diss flinched, "Not so loud."
Paul smiled for the first time in days. Shaun got up laughing and whooped. Diss sat up slowly shaking his head.
"Where's Christy?" Diss asked.
Shaun looked at Paul then back at Diss.
"What's the last thing you remember?" Shaun asked Diss.
"Some storm, then I blacked out from the rain," Diss replied slowly.
"Diss, we woke up in a totally different world. Christy isn't in this world, we don't know if it's even the same planet we left," Paul said softly.
Diss sat up quickly; Shaun pushed him down to the bed again.
"I have to go find her. I can't just give up on her! Let me go, I'm going to try and go to her!" Diss said hysterically.
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Kid woke up slowly looking around. Serge sat nearby sharpening his swallow.
"Where's Diss mate?" She asked groggily.
"He's no longer with us." Serge said softly.
"What do ya mean no longer with us?" Kid asked quickly.
"They captured him. Right now they must be brainwashing him. For now its just us two," Serge said softly.
"Are we going to get him back?" Kid asked hopefully.
"We're going to Chronopolis, but we'll set up an ambush to separate him. You're going to help him back to us. All you have to do is fight him and make sure he's out cold. I'll take over from there and bring him back from whatever they did to him," Serge said.
Kid nodded. She felt like part of her was missing and she wanted desperately to get it back.
Serge smiled. His plan would work after all. Even though the Masamune is useless to him now, Diss would be his and would kill his own friends to further Serge's plans.
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"Let me get this straight? I was conned by a half-man half-cat creature. And I was fighting with a girl who I allegedly cheated on Christy with?" Diss said incredulously
"Yeah, that's about it. On top of that, we trusted this guy to get us home, and now we're stuck here without any hope of returning," Paul said sourly.
"Well then I guess its back to rule one of this group." Diss said.
"What's rule one?" came a voice unfamiliar to Diss.
Everyone faced the newcomer. Glenn stood there in his Acacia regalia.
Paul cleared his throat, "Diss, this is Glenn an Acacia Dragoon. He works for General Viper. The man who lead you to Fort Dragonia."
"And we trust him?" Diss asked cautiously. Both of his friends nodded Glenn simply looked confused.
"Why does he act like he doesn't know me?" Glenn asked.
Shaun looked over at him, "He got hit pretty hard in the fight we got him back after. He doesn't remember anything to do with this world."
Glenn nodded before responding, "So he doesn't remember beating me up with Kid?" Shaun and Paul nodded. Diss only looked more confused.
"So what's rule number one with the group?" Glenn asked innocently.
"Rule one: If you screw the group, you're going to die," Diss said quickly.
"Rule two: Everyone goes in together, everyone gets out together," Paul said.
"Rule three: No matter what happens, you never leave a body behind. You will return dead or alive," Shaun said solemnly. Silence rang out after Shaun's statement, but it was an unnatural silence as if it wasn't meant to be there.
"Rule four: No matter what happens, you don't kill cold bloodedly," Diss finished. The other men looked at him concerned. He simply sighed.
"You guys act like your missing someone." Glenn said softly.
"Christy, she's not here. She's where we came from." Diss said just as softly.
Shaun put a hand on Diss' shoulder and Diss merely shrugged it off. Shaun looked at Diss concernedly as he swung his feet off the bed. Diss stood up slowly, and smiled. He promptly fell to one knee after that.
"Shouldn't move yet," The doctor said coming in with some food.
"Man, I still can't believe you did this to me," Diss said pointing to Paul while rubbing his head with the other hand.
"Don't underestimate me. I'd have killed you if it wasn't for the girls," Paul said earnestly.
"By the way, who were they?" Shaun asked sitting next to Diss.
"Don't know. They could be family, or maybe friends. For all I am concerned they're my way of thinking," Paul said trailing off. His last comment made no sense to anyone, but dwelling on it was pointless anyway.
"Paul logic?" Diss asked quietly. Paul nodded grinning. After a half hour passed a woman with white hair and blue eyes entered the room. She was taller than Kid, but about the same age adding a few years if need be. She had with her a sword and a sac. She looked at everyone and then the doctor motioning him to come outside with her.
"Damn, she's hot!" Paul and Shaun said together at once. Diss shook his head.
"All you two think about." Diss muttered. She entered alone again and motioned for Glenn to leave.
"My name is Steena," The woman said. "If I'm correct you three are not of this world?" She pointed to each member in the room except Lynx and Harle. She looked right at Lynx and spoke to him, "And if I'm still on the right track then you must be Serge, but in a demi-humans body," Lynx nodded once. Paul stood up with his hands across his chest.
"How do you know so much about us?" Paul asked. She grinned replying,
"Magic," She kept her voice secretive grinning again. Paul looked around at each person in the room.
"Who squealed?" Paul raised his voice.
"I was unconscious," Diss replied first.
"I was watching Diss recover," Shaun replied second.
"I was with Shaun," Lynx replied third.
"I waz with Monsieur Lynx," Harle replied lastly.
"Hmm, must have been me," Paul said casually. Everyone stared at Paul as Steena just laughed. "What? I talk in my sleep," Paul said matter-of- factly. "Diss does also." Paul pointed at Diss.
"Do not." Diss muttered.
"The first step to recovery is acceptance, Diss," Paul said in a sarcastic tone. "Say it with me, we have a problem with sleeping disorders. Come on now." Paul started getting a small chuckle in the room. "Come on, with me now. Paul is right." Diss gritted his teeth as he repeated Paul's last words without knowing it until it was to late.
"Damn you." Diss muttered. Everyone laughed out loud and continued to laugh until Steena revealed why she was there.
"As you all know, around this world and the other world are six Dragon Gods. You'll need all six's divine relics to enter the Sea Of Eden. You'll also need Serge to retrieve his body. I can help with your problems if you prove yourself to me. In exchange for the Dragon Tear I possess you all must show me the six relics. Is this a deal?" Steena said stretching her hand out to Paul. Paul looked at Diss.
"Lynx told me before that I was going to go dragon hunting after I lured Serge to Fort Dragonia. So at first I thought the Dragons were supposed to kill me so Lynx wouldn't have to after the whole Lynx Serge incident." Paul looked at Lynx and asked, "No offense?" Lynx nodded knowing he wasn't talking about him. Paul continued on, "Anyways I got to thinking just now and I think the offer is good. Steena doesn't seem to be that bad of a woman." Diss interrupted.
"Bad looking or bad natured?" Diss asked. Steena blushed a little as Paul went on in a more frustrated tone,
"And by the sound of it anyway we go we have to fight dragons. So we might as well get a dragon tear or whatever if it helps everyone involved." Diss nodded and motioned to Paul to seal the deal. Paul shook Steena's hand and Steena left saying,
"Happy hunting. Oh, and fear the Black Dragon. He is not one to underestimate in any way," Steena left saying no more. Paul gulped.
"That didn't sound very pleasant," Paul trailed off.
"No, that didn't," Shaun agreed.
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Lynx walked around Guldove looking for elements to buy when Harle walked up behind him.
"Monsieur Lynx, I need to ask you something." Lynx motioned her to go on. "Think of the most important t'ing in your life. Then t'ink of what you must do to obtain it. If not now, zen when? If not you, zen who? Ask yourself those t'ings. And finally, if you had to choose between me and ze world who would you choose?" Lynx shrugged. "I thought so." Harle looked sad holding back tears. "Adieu, Lynx. Adieu." And Harle disappeared.
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"So she just left you?" Diss asked cautiously. Lynx nodded dumbly. Diss sighed as he ran his hand through his hair before replacing his hat. "Well how are we going to work out these Dragons?" Diss asked pressing on.
"I'll get the ones in my home dimension. You get the ones here. That leaves you with searching the Earth Dragon Isle, Mount Pyre, Marbule, Sky Dragon Isle, and Gaea's Navel. We already know the Water dragon is in the Homeworld," Lynx said softly.
Diss nodded, "Fair enough. we have equal area to search around." Paul walked up with a map and a bunch of books trailing from Paul's hands to Shaun's. Shortly after Glenn appeared out of a small shop with paper and writing material. Diss stared blankly at the little parade of people.
"Drop it there." Paul pointed with his little pinky as he dropped books on the table. Shaun and Glenn both gave one last extra breath to drop the heavy load.
"What's all this stuff for?" Lynx asked. Paul just motioned for Shaun to explain as Paul opened the book titled Dragons: The Myth, The Wonder, The Magic! Diss answered for Shaun with a grin.
"He's making our job faster than lightning." Lynx still didn't understand when Paul yelled for silence. "Watch, he's a complete nerd in this state." And he motioned for Shaun to give him some paper. He crumpled the paper in his hands and tossed it at Paul's head where it connected.
"Ow," Paul said quietly. The room filled with laughter from Paul's show. Paul glared at everyone in the room and the sound of thunder was heard in the distance. Everyone but Shaun wisely left the room.
"So he's going to find the location of the dragons using books?" Diss nodded.
"He finds all kinds of things in the oddest places. Myths about weapons long thought forgotten Paul was able to find using a book. He calls it the Myth for a Myth principle. You find Myths hidden within a Myth. Using the stories of these Myths he traces it down and eventually he knows where the Myth is located. These Dragons are really popular and current in Paul's eyes, even though most people don't believe they exist." Glenn spoke next in the conversation.
"How long do you think he'll take?" Glenn spoke quietly. Out of the room Paul and Shaun screamed for joy as Paul ran out doing a happy jig with Shaun.
"Who'd you find?" Diss asked excitedly.
"The Black Dragon is in the other world, the Water Dragon as we know is in the Homeworld, but also in the Homeworld is the Earth Dragon. Exactly where he should be! EARTH DRAGON ISLAND!" Paul and Shaun yelled at the same time.
"Also while crossing through Mount Pyre we saw a large dragon through this cavern we passed. He is the Fire Dragon!" Shaun tried to control his excitement.
"Great work guys!" Diss said clapping his hands on each other's back.
"Well, to make it easier on you, the Sky Dragon is on Sky Dragon Island in the other world," Lynx added.
"That means." Paul ran into the hut. Everyone watched curiously at Paul who screamed in delight moments later. He ran back out doing the ever- impressive happy jig.
"HE'S IN THE HOME WORLD!" Paul yelled. "3 FOR 3! JUST LIKE I THOUGHT!" Diss couldn't resist the happy jig either after watching Shaun enter the fray. What could have been months of searching became minutes of Paul's hard work. Lynx joined in as well. He thought this would take forever and he'd never get his body back. Now it was just days away. Glenn decided the most honorable thing to do was just stand there.
"Yippee!" Paul screamed as he continued to dance. Steena walked up with a bunch of rolled up papers. She stared at everyone blankly then managed to calm Paul down to give him something.
"Here," She gave the rolled up papers to Paul. "This tells you which dimension the Dragon Gods are in." Paul stared blankly at the papers.
"Map included huh?" Steena nodded and smiled with pride.
"I like you," She said very plainly. "I thought I would make it easier on you." Paul began hitting himself in the head startling Steena. Diss came over with a spring in his step.
"What the hell happened to him?" Diss asked cheerfully. Paul shoved the map in Diss' hands.
"Look," Paul ordered. Diss unrolled one of the maps to find the location of the six Dragon Gods. Diss looked at Paul. "All that for nothing," Paul muttered.
"What did I do wrong?" Steena asked.
"Well, he already found the location of these guys." Diss claimed. Steena smiled. She leaned closer to Diss and whispered in his ear.
"I know. I didn't actually know the location of the Dragon Gods. Just the general idea there was six." Diss looked at her. "All I had to do was listen to you guys yell and circle the area on the maps that we sell in this place for 1 gill." Diss looked at her and then smiled.
"Thanks," Diss said looking at Paul who sat miserably on a barrel. "I think he needed that. No matter what he says, a swift kick to the ego never hurts now and then," Diss said laughing at the end softly.
"Speaking of egos. You shouldn't let yours get in the way of these dragons," Steena said quietly. Diss just gave her a dirty look. He didn't have half the ego the others did. In his mind he heard Steena say softly, 'Yes you do.' Steena was already walking away when Diss turned to her. He held back tears as he remembered Christy.
"Everyone to bed!" Paul yelled. "For tomorrow, we take down the Dragons!" Paul said to them all.
"Or as the saying goes, 'For tomorrow we die'," Shaun muttered. They all gave a small cheer as they entered the hut to get some sleep.
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Lynx woke up in the middle of night to see Paul looking at the maps and checking inside books. He got up and walked over to him curious of what he was up to.
"What is all this for?" Lynx asked dumbly. Paul looked up at him and sighed wiping his eyes.
"I'm trying to determine a good fighting strategy for these guys." Paul took a look at the sundial and sighed. 4:00 in the morning. "Why you up?" Paul asked next.
"I couldn't sleep very well. Just the anxiety that I'm closer to getting my body back." Paul smiled.
"Ya, I feel the same way. It's the real reason I can't sleep here. I'm always thinking of home. Now that I am almost there I can't stop thinking about anything else." Lynx smiled as well.
"What is your world like?" Lynx asked sitting in a chair.
"You remember the Dead Sea?" Paul asked while reading a book.
"Yes, does it look similar to that?" Paul nodded as he jotted something down on his note pad. Paul sighed again rubbing his eyes.
"My question. How do you plan on crossing the dimensions? In fact, how did we cross the dimensions? What dimension are we in?" Lynx took a deep breath and then answered Paul's questions.
"The amulet Kid gave me before entering the fort, she said I should take care of it cause she had a bad feeling about the place. The same amulet allowed us to cross over from the Home World to the other, where we are now." Paul stared blankly.
"Rigghhttt," Paul said. Lynx just sighed knowing nothing will pass by Paul's way of thinking. Paul shut one book and tossed it in a pile of others behind him.
"How many books did you get your hands on?" Lynx's eyes widened looking at the large pile.
"Around sixty and seventy," Paul muttered opening a book called, The Black Dragon In You. Paul began reading the first few pages when he began frantically skipping between pages. Finally he just tossed the book behind him. He rubbed his eyes again looking for another book. He skimmed the pages of a few pamphlets and then he sat in a chair.
"Not one person has fought or seen the Green Dragon, Earth Dragon, or Fire Dragon," Lynx spoke up.
"What about at Mount Pyre?" Paul shook his head.
"That's a very likely theory. Not fact," Lynx nodded understanding. "No one has lasted more than a minute with the Black Dragon, and the Water Dragon is just so nice nobody wants to fight him." Paul began pacing looking at the discarded books.
"In other words." Lynx started.
"We have a blind date with death at any moment with these things," He sighed ripping up his paper. "I recommend you take on the Water Dragon first. We'll take on the Fire Dragon." Lynx nodded. Paul looked out the window and grabbed something out of his pocket. Lynx watched curiously at Paul as Paul opened and stared at the picture inside.
"What's that?" Lynx asked.
"My only connection to the past. Shaun, Diss and I have no memories of our past. I was lucky enough to have this though. These two are my way of thinking. I'd be lost without them," Paul said softly. Lynx nodded as he looked over the piles of books, a wealth of knowledge lay before him. He only had to look and find out.
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Kid paced impatiently up and down the hallway. She had been in this place for a good twenty minutes and without anyone to talk to she was getting restless. Serge had gone into the basement for some reason or another. And Diss was off being brainwashed by his good for nothing friends.
"You alright Kid?" Came Serge's voice. Kid jumped she hadn't been expecting Serge to walk up then.
"Yeah I'm fine mate," Kid said uneasily.
"You don't look it," Serge said quietly.
"Well Diss isn't here, instead he's doing god knows what with his friends," Kid said snappishly.
"Don't worry, I'm finished here. We're going after Diss now," Serge said authoritatively.
"What?" Kid asked unsure.
"We're going after Diss. I figure you need him as much as he needs you, so we're going to get him back now. Lets get to the boat," Serge said quickly.
Kid smiled as she headed towards the dock, she didn't need to be told twice.
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Diss looked around Termina and slowly his memory came back. He started slumping next to Shaun. Shaun immediately grabbed him holding him up.
"You alright Diss?" Shaun asked concerned. Diss waved his hand. The group gathered around him expectantly.
"We fought here didn't we?" Diss said softly. Paul and Shaun nodded sadly.
"And Glenn, I kicked your butt by the smithy didn't I?" Diss asked his face going pale. Glenn nodded solemnly.
"I've done a terrible thing haven't I?" Diss said dejectedly. The group seemed uneasy as Diss slowly started standing on his own. He slowly looked around Termina. And he fought the tears in his eyes back behind them.
"I did so much wrong, but I'm going to set it right. Starting right now!" Diss said with conviction. The group looked at him troubled before he moved on.
"We'll stay the night here, then go our separate ways," Lynx said softly.
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Kid leaned against the bow of the ship holding onto the mast for balance as they approached the mainland. The feel of the sun and the ocean mist felt good against her skin. She smiled as she thought of seeing Diss again. Serge sat at the back steering the boat around the island. After a good hour they arrived in Termina. It had taken them a long time to get there, but no one would stop them now. As they approached Termina they saw another ship pulling in. The ship had Diss in it! As the ship pulled into port Diss stumbled before getting back up and walking on. The rest of the group seemed concerned with Diss as they followed behind him.
"THERE HE IS!" Kid shouted in joy.
"Shhh. He doesn't know we're here for him. We have to get him alone. If he's with his friends he'll resist me trying to break their brainwashing," Serge said quietly. Kid nodded understanding. She would have to stay out of sight for now.
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Diss slept uneasily. He kept dreaming of Kid. He suddenly sat up fully aware of his surroundings. Looking around the room he felt as if someone was probing his mind gently.
"Christy?" he asked quietly.
"Yes, its me Diss." Her voice came clearly.
His eyes widened, Christy had come here too! As he looked around he thought clearly, 'Where are you?'
'I'm in the Graveyard. Come on over we need to talk,' her voice came again clearly.
He dressed quickly leaving his staff behind. He wouldn't need it in the city. As he left he looked at his two friends. He considered waking them, but he wanted to be alone with his Fiancée for a night. He hurried out of the inn stopping only to get the key so he could return.
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Kid stood in the Cemetery restlessly. She looked over at Serge.
"He's coming. Now here's the information you need. He thinks you're his dead wife Christy. She was pregnant when she died. You'll look and sound like her to him and him alone. Just keep him here until I can get through his brainwashing," Serge said quickly.
Kid nodded, she only hoped he would be quick. The idea of using his past against him like this was almost unbearable to think. She stood out in the moonlight her heart racing. She saw him coming across the bridge in a hurry. She felt a thrill course through her as she saw him.
Diss quickly pushed open the doors to the cemetery as he raced across the bridge catching sight of her. Once her reached her he embraced her tightly. She could feel tears on his cheeks.
"Diss are you alright?" She whispered surprised at how her voice had changed.
"I missed you so much." He whispered softly.
"I'm sorry I'm late, I couldn't figure out how to get here," She whispered softly.
"It's alright.How's our child?" He asked quickly looking at her.
"Our child is fine," She whispered smiling. She kissed him softly unable to resist. He kissed her back fiercely. She smiled behind the kiss enjoying the moment.
Serge smiled as he watched them. She had passed easily. His own feelings clouding his judgment so he wouldn't see the fact that it wasn't really her. He slowly started pushing against his mind and was surprised when he saw that he had formed a brick wall as a mental barrier. He pushed harder trying and finally got through. Diss was on the verge of something drastic and he would have to pull him back or else something might happen. He gently nudged the fact she was pregnant into his mind till he finally pulled back. They looked at each other smiling, Kid looked like she was in paradise. He returned his attention to Diss when he saw people heading for the cemetery.
"Thought you'd be here." Paul hissed putting a dagger around Serge's neck. Serge lost complete control of Dissinger's mind.
"As always you're here to ruin my plans." Serge muttered.
"If you don't fix his mind I'll fix your head so it will fit nicely between your legs." Serge knew where this was going. He thought he could play a quick mind game on Paul to escape.
"So you'd kill me huh?" Serge said in a low cold voice.
"In a heart beat. Now do it or I'll kill you!" Paul whispered in an angry tone.
"A threat. Hah, your threats are nothing after I heard them fifty times. I learned you people never carry them out." Paul had enough of Serge's talking and could tell something in his head wasn't right. He lifted Serge and tossed him to the ground cutting him on the shoulder. Serge tried to grab his swallow, but Lynx lifted it out of his way.
"I wanted to do this for the longest time." Lynx muttered as he swung the swallow in Serge's direction. A clean cut gashed Serge's chest. He had one last desperate chance to live.
"Diss will go on thinking Kid is Christy if you kill me!" Paul stopped dead in his tracks.
"Yeah. You think so." Paul said pointing to Shaun who was approaching Diss and Kid. Shaun ripped Dissinger away from Kid during a kiss and he slapped Diss back and forth.
"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU DISS?" Shaun yelled. Kid tried to attack Shaun when Glenn attacked her from behind.
"Huh? HEY, LEAVE CHRISTY ALONE!" Shaun's eyebrow rose.
"Didn't you tell us Christy was dead?" Diss stopped before he spoke. Suddenly it triggered in his head. He remembered about Paul and Shaun telling him about his attitude with Serge. Then it all made sense.
"I was used again, wasn't I?" Diss quietly said. Shaun nodded.
"NO, DISS! DON'T LISTEN TO THEM! IT'S THE BRAINWASHING!" Kid screamed trying to break hold of Glenn's grip. Diss looked at Kid and realized the mistake he made. Diss hung his head low as he walked away.
"DISS? DISS?" Kid screamed. "DISS DON'T LEAVE ME! DON'T LEAVE ME! DISS?" Kid flailed around in Glenn's arms trying to break free from his hold.
Diss turned around and faced Kid; "You played me for a fool. You took advantage of me. Now you expect me to forgive that? My fiancée is still alive; she's out there waiting for me to return. AND YOU HAD THE GALL TO USE THAT AGAINST ME! Listen and listen good. I don't ever want to see you again. The next time we meet I wont be nearly as kind to you. You used me like some cheap piece trash. I don't know if I can return to her knowing I was so unfaithful, but I do know one thing. I will go back to her and I WILL TELL HER EVERYTHING." With that he turned and left the cemetery tears brimming his eyes. Kid stared at Diss and the tears in her eyes turned to anger.
"See, now, what was that. Serge?" Paul said mockingly drawing closer. "I think Diss has complete control now. Time for you to die." Kid's anger rose up in her as she ripped Glenn off. She jumped to the hill where Paul was and blared at him saying,
"YOU FREAKS ALREADY TOOK ONE PERSON AWAY FROM ME! I WON'T LET YOU TAKE AWAY THE LAST ONE I HAVE!" Before Paul could react Kid slashed him with her dagger and did a roundhouse kick that knocked Paul out. Lynx tried to dodge Kid's swing but failed as she almost killed Lynx right there and then. Serge quickly got up and grabbed Kid pulling her away.
"Come on, we'll get revenge later. We're going back to Chronopolis." Kid broke free from the grasp and kicked Paul as he was getting up. She then ran away with Serge.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~ "Holy shit man, are you alright?" Shaun said to Paul as he helped him up. Paul was covered in blood when he opened his eyes.
"Get a damn doctor." Paul said weakly. Dissinger was helping Lynx up when Glenn ran up the hill.
"I guess I got the lucky end of the stick." Glenn said quietly looking at the damage. Marcy trudged up the hill and her eyes opened wide as she looked at the damage Kid had done.
"OH MY GOD!" She said. Zoah ran up behind her. He looked at the damage as well before speaking.
"That must have hurt." He concluded.
"YOU THINK?" Paul said sarcastically grabbing his wound. Marcy ran up to Lynx and looked at his wounds. She whistled as she determined what she had to do to repair the wounds. After examining Lynx she told Glenn what to do as she rushed over to Paul.
"Well, be lucky you're alive." Marcy started. "You did lose a lot of blood. Both of you did. What happened anyway?"
"Kid had PMS." Paul muttered. Marcy grinned as she helped Paul to a cart where he could lie down. "How long will this.hold us back?" Paul tried to get out in one go.
"About a few days." Marcy said beginning to clean the wounds. Paul gritted his teeth as the alcohol stung like a mad bee.
"OW!" Paul managed to get through his mouth. Marcy wrapped his wound and went over to look at Lynx.
"How you doing, over there Paul?" Lynx said weakly. Paul nodded as he fell asleep in someone's lap. He had no idea who's it was, but it was comfy. He looked up to see the older girl from his locket look around and enjoying the scenery. Paul just smiled closing his eyes.
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Diss sat in the sunlight of the hideaway watching the sea move in and out. He sighed as he thought about everything that was said. He definatly felt anger at the girl, but couldn't understand the violent reaction that followed. If anything she should have broken down crying. He sighed as he looked around. He felt the guilt of cheating on his Fiancée burning deeply within him. He knew he could take the easy route and blame Serge, but he also knew that he could have prevented the mind control completely. He hated the idea of being used like that.
He nearly jumped through the roof as he felt a small hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Riddel standing next to him looking confused. He sighed grumpily as if he wanted to be alone. She merely waited for him to speak.
"Listen, I'd like to be alone right now." Diss said trying to restrain himself.
"It's getting late, you should be resting with the others," Riddel said obviously nonplussed.
"I'd rather be out here a little while longer. I'm not a child and I don't need to be told what I should and should not do," Diss said icily.
Riddel merely gave an exasperated sigh turning to leave before facing him one last time.
"I would suggest you get down here before something bad happens to you. That's not a threat, but it is a warning," She said as she turned and climbed down into the hideaway. Diss watched the sun slowly set over the horizon thinking about Christy. A poorly fashioned facsimile of her had fooled him. More over he hadn't realized it until it was too late. All he had going in his defense was that she looked and talked like her. Even that defense was flimsy.
He felt another presence nearby. He didn't have to think to figure out who it was.
"Come on in Diss," Paul said softly.
"Not yet, just give me a few minutes," Diss said softly.
"Come off it Diss!" Paul said bitterly.
"Off what?" Diss asked bitterly.
"You've been sullen and bitter since Kid pulled the wool over your eyes! Don't even try to hide it. I know you too damn well!"
"Yeah well what am I supposed to tell Christy when I get back? That I nearly slept with another woman? That I cheated on her?" Diss angrily retorted.
"No, you tell her that you were being manipulated by a force far more powerful than we anticipated. You tell her this force has been trying to control you, and the method it was doing so was another victim it had ensnared. Then you tell her it was seduction of you in a debilitated state that was controlling you," Paul said slowly and deliberately.
"Then she yells at me, and I get in trouble for even associating with this entity. Finally it all ends with me spending the rest of my life on the couch. On top of that you know as well as I do that my own ego caused me to crumble under his powers. If I hadn't assumed I was tough enough to do anything, I wouldn't have been debilitated!" Diss snapped.
"No, she'll be happy to have you back again. She'll be even happier you were upfront about what happened when you were gone. She will understand that there are people even you will be controlled by. And she will know you tried your hardest."
"Did I? Did I try me hardest not to be suckered?" Diss cut him off.
"Diss, you're being too hard on yourself. You have given your all to make sure we're safe, now it's my turn to make sure you come out of this sanely. You've been working hard enough; now stop pushing yourself, and start resting. You'll need it if we're to take on the dragons. I've already determined the Black Dragon is the worst one to fight, so we'll save it for one of our last ones," Paul said softly.
"Alright, alright, I know I'm beaten. I'll come peacefully," Diss said softly.
Diss got up from his spot and climbed carefully into the hideaway with Paul. He looked around and saw that there were three mats in one of the corners. Shaun was already sleeping in one of the mats so Diss took a mat and Paul took the other mat, and they slept soundly for the first time since they came to this place.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~
Kid sat at the bow of the boat. To call her angry was an understatement. She felt seething anger at Diss' words as he left that cemetery. On top of everything he had done everything but flat out called her a cheap woman. She knew it wasn't him talking; otherwise he wouldn't have been so cold with her.
Serge watched Kid at the bow of the boat in absolute horror. The girl just wouldn't quit; she actually thought Diss had been brainwashed. Furthermore as she got angrier it was harder to control her, and what happened in Termina almost shattered his control of her. He had a loose semblance of control over her, but that was fleeting.
"So when are we going afta him?" Kid asked angrily.
"We were almost killed and you still want to get him back?" Serge asked incredulously.
"If yer scared that's ya own fault. I want ta get him back before they tell him more lies," Kid said confidently.
"The man just tore your heart out," Serge said trying to persuade her it wasn't worth it. She glared at him angrily. He froze were he was as he felt his control on her slipping away.
"Why tha sudden change in attitude? We can't leave him with those jackals; they'll turn him against us forever," Kid said reproachfully.
"Listen, Kid, I want him back just as much as you do, but we can't get him back if he's with his friends. We tried to separate him and you saw how that worked for us. The guy is never alone. Our only hope is to get him back at Chronopolis," Serge said quickly.
"No, we go after him now. I know where he is too," Kid said quickly.
"Where?" Serge said dreading the decision he was about to make.
"Hermit's Hideaway, think about it. He's going to get off the mainland and go somewhere safe, that place would be Hermit's Hideaway," Kid said matter of factly.
Serge sighed; her logic was flawless to say the least. He nodded as he steered the ship towards Hermit's Hideaway and prayed that he wouldn't get killed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~
Diss woke up to hear yelling from above. He groaned as he thought about just killing whoever was up there. Then he saw everyone scattering around frantically. He quickly thought about what could create such a stir when the yelling started being louder and easier to follow.
"Lynx, say yer prayers. Your nine lives are up!" Screamed a very familiar female voice.
Everybody's eyes turned to Lynx as he got up. He had a look of steely determination as he climbed the ladder. Diss had seen those eyes only once before, in his mentor when he tried to save Diss from nearly dying an early death to Hydros. He knew what was going on and he immediately formed a plan.
He turned to Paul, "Get ready to form a diversion, you're going to help me get everyone off the island before she kills you all and take's me away."
Paul nodded, "Right boss."
He turned to Shaun, "If I don't get back, tell Christy I love her and don't come searching for me got that?"
Shaun looked at Diss scared, "Don't do it Diss, you got a fiancée and kid to think about."
"And it all means nothing if you guys don't get back to your lives," Diss said determinedly. Paul stopped Diss and said to him,
"We go in, we go out. Don't die. Or I'll find a way to kill you for it. Got it?"
"Thanks." Diss said softly. Paul nodded as he began to rally up everyone in the place. Diss quickly climbed up the ladder and onto the ground below seeing Serge and Kid, just as he expected. Kid looked at him briefly a strange look crossed her face then disappeared as she returned her gaze to Lynx.
"When we switched bodies obviously we switched problems," Serge said sinisterly. Diss had almost had enough of "Serge".
"Kid, did Serge ever tell you he was really Lynx using all of us?" Diss said slowly.
"A new lie Lynx 'ere told ya ta try and brainwash me too?" She said darkly.
"No lie, but if you don't put down that dagger you aren't going to be able to use it again," Diss said just as darkly.
Kid lunged at Lynx faster than most could see, just as quickly Diss grabbed her wrist and twisted flipping Kid over. She stabbed it at him, and Diss just barely twisted out of the way to have it hit nothing but air. Paul and Shaun quickly ran the people out of the Hideaway as a huge pterodactyl touched down.
"Jump on! Polly'll carry yeh to safety!" Came a distantly familiar voice. Diss nodded to Paul as he quickly started loading people onto the giant pterodactyl.
Diss immediately returned his attention to the fight he was in. Kid was being barbaric in her fighting attacking with sheer ruthlessness. Lynx looked like he wanted to jump in when Diss shouted at him.
"Get the hell outta here. Why do you think I'm fighting here!" Diss said as he rolled on the ground using the force to throw Kid off him. Both looked at each other with calm cool gazes. She carefully watched as he studied her. He held a hand out as his staff emerged out of the flames erupting from his hand.
"Nice trick? Learn that from your 'friends'?" Kid asked sarcastically.
"No my teacher taught me that, right after I got out of diapers," Diss said in an icy tone. Tension split the air as the Pterodactyl took off heading over the horizon. Diss stayed low getting ready for a fight.
Serge reached out slowly into Diss' mind. His friends were long gone, so it should have been easier to get into his mind. He was surprised that the brick wall was there again. As he pushed he felt the wall grow harder to penetrate than before. Diss looked at Serge with a cold stare in his eyes. Kid took that opportunity to jump Diss, but he wasn't there as he quickly ran up to Serge and swung viciously at head level.
Serge dodged the attack and came around with his Scythe. Having to replace his swallow with his old weapon, both men had similar weapons now and that proved a challenge. Kid watched unsure as they locked up.
"You're stronger." Serge muttered.
"You're less subtle." Diss retorted.
Kid watched helplessly as the men clashed. Serge was equal to Diss in all but ingenuity. Diss seemed to be able to stay one step ahead of Serge keeping him on the defensive as he finally knocked Serge down. He raised his staff for the finishing blow when Kid saw her opportunity and tackled Diss. Both rolled into the jungle as Diss lost the Dragon Staff. He looked up desperately as Kid stared down at him.
"Listen to me. You're being brainwashed by your friends. There is only one hope and it's if you let Serge help you. Otherwise you're their puppet. I love you Diss, don't do this to me. Let me help you get better," Kid said softly.
Diss tried to keep the anger out of his voice, "What's more likely, I'm being brainwashed or that you are being used by a man that wont let you out of his sight?"
Kid pressed her dagger to his throat, "Diss, please don't make this any harder on you than it already is. I want you back in one piece."
"I'm not going to give up on Christy." Diss said baring his throat to her. He prayed his gamble worked or Shaun would be forced to follow Diss' orders. Kid slowly pulled the knife from his throat.
"I can't do it," She said as she threw the dagger down. Diss breathed a much-needed sigh of relief. She fell on top of him and hugged him tightly. He returned the hug knowing that she needed it as she cried softly. The tears stung him, but he knew they wouldn't hurt him enough to be life threatening.
Serge watched in horror as he felt Kid start resisting him. He knew he had to do something quickly or he would lose her too. He tried to get her to pick up the knife be she wouldn't, so he tried to get her to get up, but she wouldn't do that either. Serge frowned as he realized she might be lost. Diss sat up slowly with her and got up.
She looked up at him slowly meeting eyes with him. He turned to leave picking up the Dragon Staff.
"So that's it. you're going ta leave me?" Kid asked softly.
"You're more than welcome to come with me if Serge will let you off his leash," Diss said softly as he turned and walked to the shore.
Serge tried to get in his way, but with a quick slash he stopped the staff millimeters from Serge's throat. Serge stopped dead in his tracks as Diss moved on towards the shore. Once the staff was free of his neck he shouted at Diss,
"You're abandoning something greater than you!"
"In return for something greater than all of us," Diss said not bothering to turn around. Serge turned to Kid who looked at him pleadingly. He slowly put her to sleep. She slept deeply as he thought of a sinister plan to kill Dissinger once and for all.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*
Paul walked around the Invincible back and forth as he grew more and more restless. Riddel went on the deck with Paul as he paced frantically.
"How are you doing?" Riddel asked.
"I shouldn't have left him alone!" Paul said coldly. Riddel tried to put a hand on his shoulder when he violently whipped around. "If you're trying to calm me down then forget it!" Paul was even colder with his harsh words. Riddel was startled by Paul's words and turned around saying nothing. Karsh went on deck looking at the shaken Riddel who passed by him.
"What the hell did you say to her?" Karsh asked.
"Leave me alone. In short." Paul muttered. Karsh was about to draw his axe when Marcy went on deck. She had a little talk with Karsh and it ended with Karsh looking coldly at Paul muttering,
"He's all yours." Marcy smiled as she walked up to Paul. Paul was leaning on the side of the rail as he looked at the vast ocean. Marcy leaned on the rail with her head barley looking over.
"So, like, wanna talk about it?" She said softly. Paul shook his head. "I learned that talking about your problems helps a lot." Marcy continued. Paul just sighed.
"You really want to know?" Marcy nodded. "Okay, the truth is Diss is already on the way here. So in all honesty I could care less about him. The thing is I miss my home." Marcy looked at Paul letting him know to go on. "I broke up with my girlfriend Rachel about two months before I came here. It wasn't anything big. We just thought being friends was the better relationship we should have. I still have a thing for her. But the big issue is ever since I broke up with her I started having these problems with sleeping. Then on a rainy night I told Rachel I had to go somewhere. She didn't like it and argued with me. To make a long story short we got in a fight and I left with her disapproval rather than her blessing. So I feel really bad about leaving with her mad at me. Then I have the stress of just being here, add that with that damn sword that possessed me, then with the stress that I nearly killed Diss, plus countless other little things and voila! Instant Paul with a bad mood!" Paul said in a sarcastic cheerful tone. Marcy looked at Paul and gave him a hug. Paul just stood frozen not knowing what to do. After the hug Marcy smiled and left. Paul just stared at her blankly. After she disappeared Paul gave a small grin to himself as he whistled a little tune waiting for Diss to arrive. The formation of the clouds swirled as he continued to now hum the tune to himself. He was going to help Diss come home.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*
Diss stood at the foot of his boat looking around the sea to see if he could find the S.S. Invincible. To his luck he couldn't find it anywhere. He sighed sitting in his boat as he looked at his map. He had no clue if he was going the right way. He figured to his luck a storm would come and blow him away. As he heard the sound of thunder in background he muttered to himself,
"Great, now I'm going to die." Diss sighed as he looked where the sound was coming from. He calculated it in his mind and realized it was only three miles away from him. He looked up to see a clear sky. That was odd. He looked over where the sound came from to see the clouds in a strange cluster. Then it hit him. He hit himself in the head with his fist multiple times as he picked up his paddle and sailed away to where Paul was leading him.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*
"About time you showed up." Paul said to Diss helping him out of the boat. Diss said nothing as he left to a room with a bed. As he walked down the steps he saw Fargo and Viper arguing about something as he walked past them. With Paul in pursuit they entered the room with Shaun in sitting on a bed talking to Riddel. Riddel took the general hint they wanted to be alone as they entered. Diss looked around the room and sat on a bed. He sighed as he began his speech.
"We go hunting tomorrow. No more waiting. Let's get this over and done with." Paul nodded. It was a good plan. Go in; kick some ass, then leave, simple as that.
"Ya, sounds good." Shaun muttered getting some sleep. Diss lay on his back as he shut his eyes. Paul left the room quietly as he turned around to face Marcy.
"So, you feel better?" Paul nodded as he walked past Marcy.
"Thanks." Paul said stopping before turning a corner. He didn't bother to look behind as he continued down the hall. He ran right into to Zoah next.
"How are you doing?" Paul muttered his reply.
"Miserable, care to leave me alone?" Zoah moved out of Paul's way when he ran into Riddel. Before Riddel could apologize Paul continued moving past her. He worked his way up to the deck and when he reached his destination he sat. He brought out the locket and stared at it. He tried his hardest to figure out who it was in the picture but failed horribly. After a half hour had passed he put the locket away and thought to himself. As he was thinking the two girls appeared and next to them was.himself.
"Now what did I tell you. He's too far from himself. The sword was all I needed to be able to get enough of an impact to manipulate him to bend my own way." His ghost self said.
"I'M NOT MANIPULATED BY ANYONE!" Paul yelled to himself. His ghost self laughed.
"Really? What do you call your way of thinking? Those girls tell you what to do. Lynx manipulated you Dissinger manipulated you. Hell even I can manipulate you." Paul gritted his teeth.
"Really though, you still think you can control him without the sword anymore?" The older one said.
"Oh, piece of cake. He's too easy to influence. He's weaker than people think. Why, that locket shows it's true. Paul would be nothing without that locket. Without you."
"NOT TRUE!" the little yelled. "HE CAN THINK FOR HIMSELF!"
"THEN LET HIM!" His ghost self retaliated in anger. The little one backed behind the older one.
"Yes, let him. He can't though if you're constantly interfering." The older one said confidently.
"I tire of you." And with the flick of his wrist the older disappeared leaving Paul, his ghost, and the little girl. Paul starred in horror as he watched the little girl tremble in fright. He didn't think he could scare himself that much.
"Enough, it comes down to this. When the time comes Paul you will need to defeat yourself. In doing so you'll forget all that you know for all that you knew. You lose; you go on in life under my terms. You win; you go on in life under her terms." His ghost self pointed to the little girl who cuddled with Paul. "Remember your past, or live on in the future. This decision is harder than you think. And you must make it for yourself. Until then Paul, Adieu." His ghost self disappeared. All that was left was the little girl and him.
"What did that mean?" Paul asked.
"I don't know." the little girl said trailing off. She fell asleep in Paul's arms and shortly after so did Paul.
Diss lay still on the bed. Shaun sat in the chair next to him as Paul sat in an enclosed room nearby. Shortly after a man entered the room.
"The patient is weak, you might want to rest while he regains his strength," The man said softly.
"Doc, I wont move from here unless two things happen. One, his fiancée walks through that door, or two Paul walks through that door. The first is about as likely as thunder striking on a clear day, and the other is in serious doubt," Shaun said quietly.
Diss stirred in his sleep softly groaning. Shaun turned his attention instantly to Diss. Diss seemed to start coming up, and then fell back under into a deep sleep. He sighed; this was the fifth false alarm Diss had given.
"Alright man, but I wouldn't suggest getting your hopes up. He's weak and there is nothing I can do to help him. From what you told me, he should be all right. There's nothing wrong with him from what I can tell," The doctor said as he left.
Shaun looked at Diss wishing he were awake. Paul walked in slowly and looked guiltily at Diss.
"Is he alright?" Paul asked quietly.
"The water burned him pretty badly, I don't know what's going on in there," Shaun replied.
"Christy is going to kill me," Paul groaned.
Diss slowly stirred. All eyes in the room turned to him as he groaned. Diss started sitting up as he clutched his head before falling back on the pillow. He sighed as he groaned again.
"Diss?" Shaun asked quietly.
Diss flinched, "Not so loud."
Paul smiled for the first time in days. Shaun got up laughing and whooped. Diss sat up slowly shaking his head.
"Where's Christy?" Diss asked.
Shaun looked at Paul then back at Diss.
"What's the last thing you remember?" Shaun asked Diss.
"Some storm, then I blacked out from the rain," Diss replied slowly.
"Diss, we woke up in a totally different world. Christy isn't in this world, we don't know if it's even the same planet we left," Paul said softly.
Diss sat up quickly; Shaun pushed him down to the bed again.
"I have to go find her. I can't just give up on her! Let me go, I'm going to try and go to her!" Diss said hysterically.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~
Kid woke up slowly looking around. Serge sat nearby sharpening his swallow.
"Where's Diss mate?" She asked groggily.
"He's no longer with us." Serge said softly.
"What do ya mean no longer with us?" Kid asked quickly.
"They captured him. Right now they must be brainwashing him. For now its just us two," Serge said softly.
"Are we going to get him back?" Kid asked hopefully.
"We're going to Chronopolis, but we'll set up an ambush to separate him. You're going to help him back to us. All you have to do is fight him and make sure he's out cold. I'll take over from there and bring him back from whatever they did to him," Serge said.
Kid nodded. She felt like part of her was missing and she wanted desperately to get it back.
Serge smiled. His plan would work after all. Even though the Masamune is useless to him now, Diss would be his and would kill his own friends to further Serge's plans.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*
"Let me get this straight? I was conned by a half-man half-cat creature. And I was fighting with a girl who I allegedly cheated on Christy with?" Diss said incredulously
"Yeah, that's about it. On top of that, we trusted this guy to get us home, and now we're stuck here without any hope of returning," Paul said sourly.
"Well then I guess its back to rule one of this group." Diss said.
"What's rule one?" came a voice unfamiliar to Diss.
Everyone faced the newcomer. Glenn stood there in his Acacia regalia.
Paul cleared his throat, "Diss, this is Glenn an Acacia Dragoon. He works for General Viper. The man who lead you to Fort Dragonia."
"And we trust him?" Diss asked cautiously. Both of his friends nodded Glenn simply looked confused.
"Why does he act like he doesn't know me?" Glenn asked.
Shaun looked over at him, "He got hit pretty hard in the fight we got him back after. He doesn't remember anything to do with this world."
Glenn nodded before responding, "So he doesn't remember beating me up with Kid?" Shaun and Paul nodded. Diss only looked more confused.
"So what's rule number one with the group?" Glenn asked innocently.
"Rule one: If you screw the group, you're going to die," Diss said quickly.
"Rule two: Everyone goes in together, everyone gets out together," Paul said.
"Rule three: No matter what happens, you never leave a body behind. You will return dead or alive," Shaun said solemnly. Silence rang out after Shaun's statement, but it was an unnatural silence as if it wasn't meant to be there.
"Rule four: No matter what happens, you don't kill cold bloodedly," Diss finished. The other men looked at him concerned. He simply sighed.
"You guys act like your missing someone." Glenn said softly.
"Christy, she's not here. She's where we came from." Diss said just as softly.
Shaun put a hand on Diss' shoulder and Diss merely shrugged it off. Shaun looked at Diss concernedly as he swung his feet off the bed. Diss stood up slowly, and smiled. He promptly fell to one knee after that.
"Shouldn't move yet," The doctor said coming in with some food.
"Man, I still can't believe you did this to me," Diss said pointing to Paul while rubbing his head with the other hand.
"Don't underestimate me. I'd have killed you if it wasn't for the girls," Paul said earnestly.
"By the way, who were they?" Shaun asked sitting next to Diss.
"Don't know. They could be family, or maybe friends. For all I am concerned they're my way of thinking," Paul said trailing off. His last comment made no sense to anyone, but dwelling on it was pointless anyway.
"Paul logic?" Diss asked quietly. Paul nodded grinning. After a half hour passed a woman with white hair and blue eyes entered the room. She was taller than Kid, but about the same age adding a few years if need be. She had with her a sword and a sac. She looked at everyone and then the doctor motioning him to come outside with her.
"Damn, she's hot!" Paul and Shaun said together at once. Diss shook his head.
"All you two think about." Diss muttered. She entered alone again and motioned for Glenn to leave.
"My name is Steena," The woman said. "If I'm correct you three are not of this world?" She pointed to each member in the room except Lynx and Harle. She looked right at Lynx and spoke to him, "And if I'm still on the right track then you must be Serge, but in a demi-humans body," Lynx nodded once. Paul stood up with his hands across his chest.
"How do you know so much about us?" Paul asked. She grinned replying,
"Magic," She kept her voice secretive grinning again. Paul looked around at each person in the room.
"Who squealed?" Paul raised his voice.
"I was unconscious," Diss replied first.
"I was watching Diss recover," Shaun replied second.
"I was with Shaun," Lynx replied third.
"I waz with Monsieur Lynx," Harle replied lastly.
"Hmm, must have been me," Paul said casually. Everyone stared at Paul as Steena just laughed. "What? I talk in my sleep," Paul said matter-of- factly. "Diss does also." Paul pointed at Diss.
"Do not." Diss muttered.
"The first step to recovery is acceptance, Diss," Paul said in a sarcastic tone. "Say it with me, we have a problem with sleeping disorders. Come on now." Paul started getting a small chuckle in the room. "Come on, with me now. Paul is right." Diss gritted his teeth as he repeated Paul's last words without knowing it until it was to late.
"Damn you." Diss muttered. Everyone laughed out loud and continued to laugh until Steena revealed why she was there.
"As you all know, around this world and the other world are six Dragon Gods. You'll need all six's divine relics to enter the Sea Of Eden. You'll also need Serge to retrieve his body. I can help with your problems if you prove yourself to me. In exchange for the Dragon Tear I possess you all must show me the six relics. Is this a deal?" Steena said stretching her hand out to Paul. Paul looked at Diss.
"Lynx told me before that I was going to go dragon hunting after I lured Serge to Fort Dragonia. So at first I thought the Dragons were supposed to kill me so Lynx wouldn't have to after the whole Lynx Serge incident." Paul looked at Lynx and asked, "No offense?" Lynx nodded knowing he wasn't talking about him. Paul continued on, "Anyways I got to thinking just now and I think the offer is good. Steena doesn't seem to be that bad of a woman." Diss interrupted.
"Bad looking or bad natured?" Diss asked. Steena blushed a little as Paul went on in a more frustrated tone,
"And by the sound of it anyway we go we have to fight dragons. So we might as well get a dragon tear or whatever if it helps everyone involved." Diss nodded and motioned to Paul to seal the deal. Paul shook Steena's hand and Steena left saying,
"Happy hunting. Oh, and fear the Black Dragon. He is not one to underestimate in any way," Steena left saying no more. Paul gulped.
"That didn't sound very pleasant," Paul trailed off.
"No, that didn't," Shaun agreed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~
Lynx walked around Guldove looking for elements to buy when Harle walked up behind him.
"Monsieur Lynx, I need to ask you something." Lynx motioned her to go on. "Think of the most important t'ing in your life. Then t'ink of what you must do to obtain it. If not now, zen when? If not you, zen who? Ask yourself those t'ings. And finally, if you had to choose between me and ze world who would you choose?" Lynx shrugged. "I thought so." Harle looked sad holding back tears. "Adieu, Lynx. Adieu." And Harle disappeared.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~
"So she just left you?" Diss asked cautiously. Lynx nodded dumbly. Diss sighed as he ran his hand through his hair before replacing his hat. "Well how are we going to work out these Dragons?" Diss asked pressing on.
"I'll get the ones in my home dimension. You get the ones here. That leaves you with searching the Earth Dragon Isle, Mount Pyre, Marbule, Sky Dragon Isle, and Gaea's Navel. We already know the Water dragon is in the Homeworld," Lynx said softly.
Diss nodded, "Fair enough. we have equal area to search around." Paul walked up with a map and a bunch of books trailing from Paul's hands to Shaun's. Shortly after Glenn appeared out of a small shop with paper and writing material. Diss stared blankly at the little parade of people.
"Drop it there." Paul pointed with his little pinky as he dropped books on the table. Shaun and Glenn both gave one last extra breath to drop the heavy load.
"What's all this stuff for?" Lynx asked. Paul just motioned for Shaun to explain as Paul opened the book titled Dragons: The Myth, The Wonder, The Magic! Diss answered for Shaun with a grin.
"He's making our job faster than lightning." Lynx still didn't understand when Paul yelled for silence. "Watch, he's a complete nerd in this state." And he motioned for Shaun to give him some paper. He crumpled the paper in his hands and tossed it at Paul's head where it connected.
"Ow," Paul said quietly. The room filled with laughter from Paul's show. Paul glared at everyone in the room and the sound of thunder was heard in the distance. Everyone but Shaun wisely left the room.
"So he's going to find the location of the dragons using books?" Diss nodded.
"He finds all kinds of things in the oddest places. Myths about weapons long thought forgotten Paul was able to find using a book. He calls it the Myth for a Myth principle. You find Myths hidden within a Myth. Using the stories of these Myths he traces it down and eventually he knows where the Myth is located. These Dragons are really popular and current in Paul's eyes, even though most people don't believe they exist." Glenn spoke next in the conversation.
"How long do you think he'll take?" Glenn spoke quietly. Out of the room Paul and Shaun screamed for joy as Paul ran out doing a happy jig with Shaun.
"Who'd you find?" Diss asked excitedly.
"The Black Dragon is in the other world, the Water Dragon as we know is in the Homeworld, but also in the Homeworld is the Earth Dragon. Exactly where he should be! EARTH DRAGON ISLAND!" Paul and Shaun yelled at the same time.
"Also while crossing through Mount Pyre we saw a large dragon through this cavern we passed. He is the Fire Dragon!" Shaun tried to control his excitement.
"Great work guys!" Diss said clapping his hands on each other's back.
"Well, to make it easier on you, the Sky Dragon is on Sky Dragon Island in the other world," Lynx added.
"That means." Paul ran into the hut. Everyone watched curiously at Paul who screamed in delight moments later. He ran back out doing the ever- impressive happy jig.
"HE'S IN THE HOME WORLD!" Paul yelled. "3 FOR 3! JUST LIKE I THOUGHT!" Diss couldn't resist the happy jig either after watching Shaun enter the fray. What could have been months of searching became minutes of Paul's hard work. Lynx joined in as well. He thought this would take forever and he'd never get his body back. Now it was just days away. Glenn decided the most honorable thing to do was just stand there.
"Yippee!" Paul screamed as he continued to dance. Steena walked up with a bunch of rolled up papers. She stared at everyone blankly then managed to calm Paul down to give him something.
"Here," She gave the rolled up papers to Paul. "This tells you which dimension the Dragon Gods are in." Paul stared blankly at the papers.
"Map included huh?" Steena nodded and smiled with pride.
"I like you," She said very plainly. "I thought I would make it easier on you." Paul began hitting himself in the head startling Steena. Diss came over with a spring in his step.
"What the hell happened to him?" Diss asked cheerfully. Paul shoved the map in Diss' hands.
"Look," Paul ordered. Diss unrolled one of the maps to find the location of the six Dragon Gods. Diss looked at Paul. "All that for nothing," Paul muttered.
"What did I do wrong?" Steena asked.
"Well, he already found the location of these guys." Diss claimed. Steena smiled. She leaned closer to Diss and whispered in his ear.
"I know. I didn't actually know the location of the Dragon Gods. Just the general idea there was six." Diss looked at her. "All I had to do was listen to you guys yell and circle the area on the maps that we sell in this place for 1 gill." Diss looked at her and then smiled.
"Thanks," Diss said looking at Paul who sat miserably on a barrel. "I think he needed that. No matter what he says, a swift kick to the ego never hurts now and then," Diss said laughing at the end softly.
"Speaking of egos. You shouldn't let yours get in the way of these dragons," Steena said quietly. Diss just gave her a dirty look. He didn't have half the ego the others did. In his mind he heard Steena say softly, 'Yes you do.' Steena was already walking away when Diss turned to her. He held back tears as he remembered Christy.
"Everyone to bed!" Paul yelled. "For tomorrow, we take down the Dragons!" Paul said to them all.
"Or as the saying goes, 'For tomorrow we die'," Shaun muttered. They all gave a small cheer as they entered the hut to get some sleep.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~
Lynx woke up in the middle of night to see Paul looking at the maps and checking inside books. He got up and walked over to him curious of what he was up to.
"What is all this for?" Lynx asked dumbly. Paul looked up at him and sighed wiping his eyes.
"I'm trying to determine a good fighting strategy for these guys." Paul took a look at the sundial and sighed. 4:00 in the morning. "Why you up?" Paul asked next.
"I couldn't sleep very well. Just the anxiety that I'm closer to getting my body back." Paul smiled.
"Ya, I feel the same way. It's the real reason I can't sleep here. I'm always thinking of home. Now that I am almost there I can't stop thinking about anything else." Lynx smiled as well.
"What is your world like?" Lynx asked sitting in a chair.
"You remember the Dead Sea?" Paul asked while reading a book.
"Yes, does it look similar to that?" Paul nodded as he jotted something down on his note pad. Paul sighed again rubbing his eyes.
"My question. How do you plan on crossing the dimensions? In fact, how did we cross the dimensions? What dimension are we in?" Lynx took a deep breath and then answered Paul's questions.
"The amulet Kid gave me before entering the fort, she said I should take care of it cause she had a bad feeling about the place. The same amulet allowed us to cross over from the Home World to the other, where we are now." Paul stared blankly.
"Rigghhttt," Paul said. Lynx just sighed knowing nothing will pass by Paul's way of thinking. Paul shut one book and tossed it in a pile of others behind him.
"How many books did you get your hands on?" Lynx's eyes widened looking at the large pile.
"Around sixty and seventy," Paul muttered opening a book called, The Black Dragon In You. Paul began reading the first few pages when he began frantically skipping between pages. Finally he just tossed the book behind him. He rubbed his eyes again looking for another book. He skimmed the pages of a few pamphlets and then he sat in a chair.
"Not one person has fought or seen the Green Dragon, Earth Dragon, or Fire Dragon," Lynx spoke up.
"What about at Mount Pyre?" Paul shook his head.
"That's a very likely theory. Not fact," Lynx nodded understanding. "No one has lasted more than a minute with the Black Dragon, and the Water Dragon is just so nice nobody wants to fight him." Paul began pacing looking at the discarded books.
"In other words." Lynx started.
"We have a blind date with death at any moment with these things," He sighed ripping up his paper. "I recommend you take on the Water Dragon first. We'll take on the Fire Dragon." Lynx nodded. Paul looked out the window and grabbed something out of his pocket. Lynx watched curiously at Paul as Paul opened and stared at the picture inside.
"What's that?" Lynx asked.
"My only connection to the past. Shaun, Diss and I have no memories of our past. I was lucky enough to have this though. These two are my way of thinking. I'd be lost without them," Paul said softly. Lynx nodded as he looked over the piles of books, a wealth of knowledge lay before him. He only had to look and find out.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~
Kid paced impatiently up and down the hallway. She had been in this place for a good twenty minutes and without anyone to talk to she was getting restless. Serge had gone into the basement for some reason or another. And Diss was off being brainwashed by his good for nothing friends.
"You alright Kid?" Came Serge's voice. Kid jumped she hadn't been expecting Serge to walk up then.
"Yeah I'm fine mate," Kid said uneasily.
"You don't look it," Serge said quietly.
"Well Diss isn't here, instead he's doing god knows what with his friends," Kid said snappishly.
"Don't worry, I'm finished here. We're going after Diss now," Serge said authoritatively.
"What?" Kid asked unsure.
"We're going after Diss. I figure you need him as much as he needs you, so we're going to get him back now. Lets get to the boat," Serge said quickly.
Kid smiled as she headed towards the dock, she didn't need to be told twice.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~
Diss looked around Termina and slowly his memory came back. He started slumping next to Shaun. Shaun immediately grabbed him holding him up.
"You alright Diss?" Shaun asked concerned. Diss waved his hand. The group gathered around him expectantly.
"We fought here didn't we?" Diss said softly. Paul and Shaun nodded sadly.
"And Glenn, I kicked your butt by the smithy didn't I?" Diss asked his face going pale. Glenn nodded solemnly.
"I've done a terrible thing haven't I?" Diss said dejectedly. The group seemed uneasy as Diss slowly started standing on his own. He slowly looked around Termina. And he fought the tears in his eyes back behind them.
"I did so much wrong, but I'm going to set it right. Starting right now!" Diss said with conviction. The group looked at him troubled before he moved on.
"We'll stay the night here, then go our separate ways," Lynx said softly.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~
Kid leaned against the bow of the ship holding onto the mast for balance as they approached the mainland. The feel of the sun and the ocean mist felt good against her skin. She smiled as she thought of seeing Diss again. Serge sat at the back steering the boat around the island. After a good hour they arrived in Termina. It had taken them a long time to get there, but no one would stop them now. As they approached Termina they saw another ship pulling in. The ship had Diss in it! As the ship pulled into port Diss stumbled before getting back up and walking on. The rest of the group seemed concerned with Diss as they followed behind him.
"THERE HE IS!" Kid shouted in joy.
"Shhh. He doesn't know we're here for him. We have to get him alone. If he's with his friends he'll resist me trying to break their brainwashing," Serge said quietly. Kid nodded understanding. She would have to stay out of sight for now.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~
Diss slept uneasily. He kept dreaming of Kid. He suddenly sat up fully aware of his surroundings. Looking around the room he felt as if someone was probing his mind gently.
"Christy?" he asked quietly.
"Yes, its me Diss." Her voice came clearly.
His eyes widened, Christy had come here too! As he looked around he thought clearly, 'Where are you?'
'I'm in the Graveyard. Come on over we need to talk,' her voice came again clearly.
He dressed quickly leaving his staff behind. He wouldn't need it in the city. As he left he looked at his two friends. He considered waking them, but he wanted to be alone with his Fiancée for a night. He hurried out of the inn stopping only to get the key so he could return.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~
Kid stood in the Cemetery restlessly. She looked over at Serge.
"He's coming. Now here's the information you need. He thinks you're his dead wife Christy. She was pregnant when she died. You'll look and sound like her to him and him alone. Just keep him here until I can get through his brainwashing," Serge said quickly.
Kid nodded, she only hoped he would be quick. The idea of using his past against him like this was almost unbearable to think. She stood out in the moonlight her heart racing. She saw him coming across the bridge in a hurry. She felt a thrill course through her as she saw him.
Diss quickly pushed open the doors to the cemetery as he raced across the bridge catching sight of her. Once her reached her he embraced her tightly. She could feel tears on his cheeks.
"Diss are you alright?" She whispered surprised at how her voice had changed.
"I missed you so much." He whispered softly.
"I'm sorry I'm late, I couldn't figure out how to get here," She whispered softly.
"It's alright.How's our child?" He asked quickly looking at her.
"Our child is fine," She whispered smiling. She kissed him softly unable to resist. He kissed her back fiercely. She smiled behind the kiss enjoying the moment.
Serge smiled as he watched them. She had passed easily. His own feelings clouding his judgment so he wouldn't see the fact that it wasn't really her. He slowly started pushing against his mind and was surprised when he saw that he had formed a brick wall as a mental barrier. He pushed harder trying and finally got through. Diss was on the verge of something drastic and he would have to pull him back or else something might happen. He gently nudged the fact she was pregnant into his mind till he finally pulled back. They looked at each other smiling, Kid looked like she was in paradise. He returned his attention to Diss when he saw people heading for the cemetery.
"Thought you'd be here." Paul hissed putting a dagger around Serge's neck. Serge lost complete control of Dissinger's mind.
"As always you're here to ruin my plans." Serge muttered.
"If you don't fix his mind I'll fix your head so it will fit nicely between your legs." Serge knew where this was going. He thought he could play a quick mind game on Paul to escape.
"So you'd kill me huh?" Serge said in a low cold voice.
"In a heart beat. Now do it or I'll kill you!" Paul whispered in an angry tone.
"A threat. Hah, your threats are nothing after I heard them fifty times. I learned you people never carry them out." Paul had enough of Serge's talking and could tell something in his head wasn't right. He lifted Serge and tossed him to the ground cutting him on the shoulder. Serge tried to grab his swallow, but Lynx lifted it out of his way.
"I wanted to do this for the longest time." Lynx muttered as he swung the swallow in Serge's direction. A clean cut gashed Serge's chest. He had one last desperate chance to live.
"Diss will go on thinking Kid is Christy if you kill me!" Paul stopped dead in his tracks.
"Yeah. You think so." Paul said pointing to Shaun who was approaching Diss and Kid. Shaun ripped Dissinger away from Kid during a kiss and he slapped Diss back and forth.
"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU DISS?" Shaun yelled. Kid tried to attack Shaun when Glenn attacked her from behind.
"Huh? HEY, LEAVE CHRISTY ALONE!" Shaun's eyebrow rose.
"Didn't you tell us Christy was dead?" Diss stopped before he spoke. Suddenly it triggered in his head. He remembered about Paul and Shaun telling him about his attitude with Serge. Then it all made sense.
"I was used again, wasn't I?" Diss quietly said. Shaun nodded.
"NO, DISS! DON'T LISTEN TO THEM! IT'S THE BRAINWASHING!" Kid screamed trying to break hold of Glenn's grip. Diss looked at Kid and realized the mistake he made. Diss hung his head low as he walked away.
"DISS? DISS?" Kid screamed. "DISS DON'T LEAVE ME! DON'T LEAVE ME! DISS?" Kid flailed around in Glenn's arms trying to break free from his hold.
Diss turned around and faced Kid; "You played me for a fool. You took advantage of me. Now you expect me to forgive that? My fiancée is still alive; she's out there waiting for me to return. AND YOU HAD THE GALL TO USE THAT AGAINST ME! Listen and listen good. I don't ever want to see you again. The next time we meet I wont be nearly as kind to you. You used me like some cheap piece trash. I don't know if I can return to her knowing I was so unfaithful, but I do know one thing. I will go back to her and I WILL TELL HER EVERYTHING." With that he turned and left the cemetery tears brimming his eyes. Kid stared at Diss and the tears in her eyes turned to anger.
"See, now, what was that. Serge?" Paul said mockingly drawing closer. "I think Diss has complete control now. Time for you to die." Kid's anger rose up in her as she ripped Glenn off. She jumped to the hill where Paul was and blared at him saying,
"YOU FREAKS ALREADY TOOK ONE PERSON AWAY FROM ME! I WON'T LET YOU TAKE AWAY THE LAST ONE I HAVE!" Before Paul could react Kid slashed him with her dagger and did a roundhouse kick that knocked Paul out. Lynx tried to dodge Kid's swing but failed as she almost killed Lynx right there and then. Serge quickly got up and grabbed Kid pulling her away.
"Come on, we'll get revenge later. We're going back to Chronopolis." Kid broke free from the grasp and kicked Paul as he was getting up. She then ran away with Serge.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~ "Holy shit man, are you alright?" Shaun said to Paul as he helped him up. Paul was covered in blood when he opened his eyes.
"Get a damn doctor." Paul said weakly. Dissinger was helping Lynx up when Glenn ran up the hill.
"I guess I got the lucky end of the stick." Glenn said quietly looking at the damage. Marcy trudged up the hill and her eyes opened wide as she looked at the damage Kid had done.
"OH MY GOD!" She said. Zoah ran up behind her. He looked at the damage as well before speaking.
"That must have hurt." He concluded.
"YOU THINK?" Paul said sarcastically grabbing his wound. Marcy ran up to Lynx and looked at his wounds. She whistled as she determined what she had to do to repair the wounds. After examining Lynx she told Glenn what to do as she rushed over to Paul.
"Well, be lucky you're alive." Marcy started. "You did lose a lot of blood. Both of you did. What happened anyway?"
"Kid had PMS." Paul muttered. Marcy grinned as she helped Paul to a cart where he could lie down. "How long will this.hold us back?" Paul tried to get out in one go.
"About a few days." Marcy said beginning to clean the wounds. Paul gritted his teeth as the alcohol stung like a mad bee.
"OW!" Paul managed to get through his mouth. Marcy wrapped his wound and went over to look at Lynx.
"How you doing, over there Paul?" Lynx said weakly. Paul nodded as he fell asleep in someone's lap. He had no idea who's it was, but it was comfy. He looked up to see the older girl from his locket look around and enjoying the scenery. Paul just smiled closing his eyes.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~
Diss sat in the sunlight of the hideaway watching the sea move in and out. He sighed as he thought about everything that was said. He definatly felt anger at the girl, but couldn't understand the violent reaction that followed. If anything she should have broken down crying. He sighed as he looked around. He felt the guilt of cheating on his Fiancée burning deeply within him. He knew he could take the easy route and blame Serge, but he also knew that he could have prevented the mind control completely. He hated the idea of being used like that.
He nearly jumped through the roof as he felt a small hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Riddel standing next to him looking confused. He sighed grumpily as if he wanted to be alone. She merely waited for him to speak.
"Listen, I'd like to be alone right now." Diss said trying to restrain himself.
"It's getting late, you should be resting with the others," Riddel said obviously nonplussed.
"I'd rather be out here a little while longer. I'm not a child and I don't need to be told what I should and should not do," Diss said icily.
Riddel merely gave an exasperated sigh turning to leave before facing him one last time.
"I would suggest you get down here before something bad happens to you. That's not a threat, but it is a warning," She said as she turned and climbed down into the hideaway. Diss watched the sun slowly set over the horizon thinking about Christy. A poorly fashioned facsimile of her had fooled him. More over he hadn't realized it until it was too late. All he had going in his defense was that she looked and talked like her. Even that defense was flimsy.
He felt another presence nearby. He didn't have to think to figure out who it was.
"Come on in Diss," Paul said softly.
"Not yet, just give me a few minutes," Diss said softly.
"Come off it Diss!" Paul said bitterly.
"Off what?" Diss asked bitterly.
"You've been sullen and bitter since Kid pulled the wool over your eyes! Don't even try to hide it. I know you too damn well!"
"Yeah well what am I supposed to tell Christy when I get back? That I nearly slept with another woman? That I cheated on her?" Diss angrily retorted.
"No, you tell her that you were being manipulated by a force far more powerful than we anticipated. You tell her this force has been trying to control you, and the method it was doing so was another victim it had ensnared. Then you tell her it was seduction of you in a debilitated state that was controlling you," Paul said slowly and deliberately.
"Then she yells at me, and I get in trouble for even associating with this entity. Finally it all ends with me spending the rest of my life on the couch. On top of that you know as well as I do that my own ego caused me to crumble under his powers. If I hadn't assumed I was tough enough to do anything, I wouldn't have been debilitated!" Diss snapped.
"No, she'll be happy to have you back again. She'll be even happier you were upfront about what happened when you were gone. She will understand that there are people even you will be controlled by. And she will know you tried your hardest."
"Did I? Did I try me hardest not to be suckered?" Diss cut him off.
"Diss, you're being too hard on yourself. You have given your all to make sure we're safe, now it's my turn to make sure you come out of this sanely. You've been working hard enough; now stop pushing yourself, and start resting. You'll need it if we're to take on the dragons. I've already determined the Black Dragon is the worst one to fight, so we'll save it for one of our last ones," Paul said softly.
"Alright, alright, I know I'm beaten. I'll come peacefully," Diss said softly.
Diss got up from his spot and climbed carefully into the hideaway with Paul. He looked around and saw that there were three mats in one of the corners. Shaun was already sleeping in one of the mats so Diss took a mat and Paul took the other mat, and they slept soundly for the first time since they came to this place.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~
Kid sat at the bow of the boat. To call her angry was an understatement. She felt seething anger at Diss' words as he left that cemetery. On top of everything he had done everything but flat out called her a cheap woman. She knew it wasn't him talking; otherwise he wouldn't have been so cold with her.
Serge watched Kid at the bow of the boat in absolute horror. The girl just wouldn't quit; she actually thought Diss had been brainwashed. Furthermore as she got angrier it was harder to control her, and what happened in Termina almost shattered his control of her. He had a loose semblance of control over her, but that was fleeting.
"So when are we going afta him?" Kid asked angrily.
"We were almost killed and you still want to get him back?" Serge asked incredulously.
"If yer scared that's ya own fault. I want ta get him back before they tell him more lies," Kid said confidently.
"The man just tore your heart out," Serge said trying to persuade her it wasn't worth it. She glared at him angrily. He froze were he was as he felt his control on her slipping away.
"Why tha sudden change in attitude? We can't leave him with those jackals; they'll turn him against us forever," Kid said reproachfully.
"Listen, Kid, I want him back just as much as you do, but we can't get him back if he's with his friends. We tried to separate him and you saw how that worked for us. The guy is never alone. Our only hope is to get him back at Chronopolis," Serge said quickly.
"No, we go after him now. I know where he is too," Kid said quickly.
"Where?" Serge said dreading the decision he was about to make.
"Hermit's Hideaway, think about it. He's going to get off the mainland and go somewhere safe, that place would be Hermit's Hideaway," Kid said matter of factly.
Serge sighed; her logic was flawless to say the least. He nodded as he steered the ship towards Hermit's Hideaway and prayed that he wouldn't get killed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~
Diss woke up to hear yelling from above. He groaned as he thought about just killing whoever was up there. Then he saw everyone scattering around frantically. He quickly thought about what could create such a stir when the yelling started being louder and easier to follow.
"Lynx, say yer prayers. Your nine lives are up!" Screamed a very familiar female voice.
Everybody's eyes turned to Lynx as he got up. He had a look of steely determination as he climbed the ladder. Diss had seen those eyes only once before, in his mentor when he tried to save Diss from nearly dying an early death to Hydros. He knew what was going on and he immediately formed a plan.
He turned to Paul, "Get ready to form a diversion, you're going to help me get everyone off the island before she kills you all and take's me away."
Paul nodded, "Right boss."
He turned to Shaun, "If I don't get back, tell Christy I love her and don't come searching for me got that?"
Shaun looked at Diss scared, "Don't do it Diss, you got a fiancée and kid to think about."
"And it all means nothing if you guys don't get back to your lives," Diss said determinedly. Paul stopped Diss and said to him,
"We go in, we go out. Don't die. Or I'll find a way to kill you for it. Got it?"
"Thanks." Diss said softly. Paul nodded as he began to rally up everyone in the place. Diss quickly climbed up the ladder and onto the ground below seeing Serge and Kid, just as he expected. Kid looked at him briefly a strange look crossed her face then disappeared as she returned her gaze to Lynx.
"When we switched bodies obviously we switched problems," Serge said sinisterly. Diss had almost had enough of "Serge".
"Kid, did Serge ever tell you he was really Lynx using all of us?" Diss said slowly.
"A new lie Lynx 'ere told ya ta try and brainwash me too?" She said darkly.
"No lie, but if you don't put down that dagger you aren't going to be able to use it again," Diss said just as darkly.
Kid lunged at Lynx faster than most could see, just as quickly Diss grabbed her wrist and twisted flipping Kid over. She stabbed it at him, and Diss just barely twisted out of the way to have it hit nothing but air. Paul and Shaun quickly ran the people out of the Hideaway as a huge pterodactyl touched down.
"Jump on! Polly'll carry yeh to safety!" Came a distantly familiar voice. Diss nodded to Paul as he quickly started loading people onto the giant pterodactyl.
Diss immediately returned his attention to the fight he was in. Kid was being barbaric in her fighting attacking with sheer ruthlessness. Lynx looked like he wanted to jump in when Diss shouted at him.
"Get the hell outta here. Why do you think I'm fighting here!" Diss said as he rolled on the ground using the force to throw Kid off him. Both looked at each other with calm cool gazes. She carefully watched as he studied her. He held a hand out as his staff emerged out of the flames erupting from his hand.
"Nice trick? Learn that from your 'friends'?" Kid asked sarcastically.
"No my teacher taught me that, right after I got out of diapers," Diss said in an icy tone. Tension split the air as the Pterodactyl took off heading over the horizon. Diss stayed low getting ready for a fight.
Serge reached out slowly into Diss' mind. His friends were long gone, so it should have been easier to get into his mind. He was surprised that the brick wall was there again. As he pushed he felt the wall grow harder to penetrate than before. Diss looked at Serge with a cold stare in his eyes. Kid took that opportunity to jump Diss, but he wasn't there as he quickly ran up to Serge and swung viciously at head level.
Serge dodged the attack and came around with his Scythe. Having to replace his swallow with his old weapon, both men had similar weapons now and that proved a challenge. Kid watched unsure as they locked up.
"You're stronger." Serge muttered.
"You're less subtle." Diss retorted.
Kid watched helplessly as the men clashed. Serge was equal to Diss in all but ingenuity. Diss seemed to be able to stay one step ahead of Serge keeping him on the defensive as he finally knocked Serge down. He raised his staff for the finishing blow when Kid saw her opportunity and tackled Diss. Both rolled into the jungle as Diss lost the Dragon Staff. He looked up desperately as Kid stared down at him.
"Listen to me. You're being brainwashed by your friends. There is only one hope and it's if you let Serge help you. Otherwise you're their puppet. I love you Diss, don't do this to me. Let me help you get better," Kid said softly.
Diss tried to keep the anger out of his voice, "What's more likely, I'm being brainwashed or that you are being used by a man that wont let you out of his sight?"
Kid pressed her dagger to his throat, "Diss, please don't make this any harder on you than it already is. I want you back in one piece."
"I'm not going to give up on Christy." Diss said baring his throat to her. He prayed his gamble worked or Shaun would be forced to follow Diss' orders. Kid slowly pulled the knife from his throat.
"I can't do it," She said as she threw the dagger down. Diss breathed a much-needed sigh of relief. She fell on top of him and hugged him tightly. He returned the hug knowing that she needed it as she cried softly. The tears stung him, but he knew they wouldn't hurt him enough to be life threatening.
Serge watched in horror as he felt Kid start resisting him. He knew he had to do something quickly or he would lose her too. He tried to get her to pick up the knife be she wouldn't, so he tried to get her to get up, but she wouldn't do that either. Serge frowned as he realized she might be lost. Diss sat up slowly with her and got up.
She looked up at him slowly meeting eyes with him. He turned to leave picking up the Dragon Staff.
"So that's it. you're going ta leave me?" Kid asked softly.
"You're more than welcome to come with me if Serge will let you off his leash," Diss said softly as he turned and walked to the shore.
Serge tried to get in his way, but with a quick slash he stopped the staff millimeters from Serge's throat. Serge stopped dead in his tracks as Diss moved on towards the shore. Once the staff was free of his neck he shouted at Diss,
"You're abandoning something greater than you!"
"In return for something greater than all of us," Diss said not bothering to turn around. Serge turned to Kid who looked at him pleadingly. He slowly put her to sleep. She slept deeply as he thought of a sinister plan to kill Dissinger once and for all.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*
Paul walked around the Invincible back and forth as he grew more and more restless. Riddel went on the deck with Paul as he paced frantically.
"How are you doing?" Riddel asked.
"I shouldn't have left him alone!" Paul said coldly. Riddel tried to put a hand on his shoulder when he violently whipped around. "If you're trying to calm me down then forget it!" Paul was even colder with his harsh words. Riddel was startled by Paul's words and turned around saying nothing. Karsh went on deck looking at the shaken Riddel who passed by him.
"What the hell did you say to her?" Karsh asked.
"Leave me alone. In short." Paul muttered. Karsh was about to draw his axe when Marcy went on deck. She had a little talk with Karsh and it ended with Karsh looking coldly at Paul muttering,
"He's all yours." Marcy smiled as she walked up to Paul. Paul was leaning on the side of the rail as he looked at the vast ocean. Marcy leaned on the rail with her head barley looking over.
"So, like, wanna talk about it?" She said softly. Paul shook his head. "I learned that talking about your problems helps a lot." Marcy continued. Paul just sighed.
"You really want to know?" Marcy nodded. "Okay, the truth is Diss is already on the way here. So in all honesty I could care less about him. The thing is I miss my home." Marcy looked at Paul letting him know to go on. "I broke up with my girlfriend Rachel about two months before I came here. It wasn't anything big. We just thought being friends was the better relationship we should have. I still have a thing for her. But the big issue is ever since I broke up with her I started having these problems with sleeping. Then on a rainy night I told Rachel I had to go somewhere. She didn't like it and argued with me. To make a long story short we got in a fight and I left with her disapproval rather than her blessing. So I feel really bad about leaving with her mad at me. Then I have the stress of just being here, add that with that damn sword that possessed me, then with the stress that I nearly killed Diss, plus countless other little things and voila! Instant Paul with a bad mood!" Paul said in a sarcastic cheerful tone. Marcy looked at Paul and gave him a hug. Paul just stood frozen not knowing what to do. After the hug Marcy smiled and left. Paul just stared at her blankly. After she disappeared Paul gave a small grin to himself as he whistled a little tune waiting for Diss to arrive. The formation of the clouds swirled as he continued to now hum the tune to himself. He was going to help Diss come home.
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Diss stood at the foot of his boat looking around the sea to see if he could find the S.S. Invincible. To his luck he couldn't find it anywhere. He sighed sitting in his boat as he looked at his map. He had no clue if he was going the right way. He figured to his luck a storm would come and blow him away. As he heard the sound of thunder in background he muttered to himself,
"Great, now I'm going to die." Diss sighed as he looked where the sound was coming from. He calculated it in his mind and realized it was only three miles away from him. He looked up to see a clear sky. That was odd. He looked over where the sound came from to see the clouds in a strange cluster. Then it hit him. He hit himself in the head with his fist multiple times as he picked up his paddle and sailed away to where Paul was leading him.
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"About time you showed up." Paul said to Diss helping him out of the boat. Diss said nothing as he left to a room with a bed. As he walked down the steps he saw Fargo and Viper arguing about something as he walked past them. With Paul in pursuit they entered the room with Shaun in sitting on a bed talking to Riddel. Riddel took the general hint they wanted to be alone as they entered. Diss looked around the room and sat on a bed. He sighed as he began his speech.
"We go hunting tomorrow. No more waiting. Let's get this over and done with." Paul nodded. It was a good plan. Go in; kick some ass, then leave, simple as that.
"Ya, sounds good." Shaun muttered getting some sleep. Diss lay on his back as he shut his eyes. Paul left the room quietly as he turned around to face Marcy.
"So, you feel better?" Paul nodded as he walked past Marcy.
"Thanks." Paul said stopping before turning a corner. He didn't bother to look behind as he continued down the hall. He ran right into to Zoah next.
"How are you doing?" Paul muttered his reply.
"Miserable, care to leave me alone?" Zoah moved out of Paul's way when he ran into Riddel. Before Riddel could apologize Paul continued moving past her. He worked his way up to the deck and when he reached his destination he sat. He brought out the locket and stared at it. He tried his hardest to figure out who it was in the picture but failed horribly. After a half hour had passed he put the locket away and thought to himself. As he was thinking the two girls appeared and next to them was.himself.
"Now what did I tell you. He's too far from himself. The sword was all I needed to be able to get enough of an impact to manipulate him to bend my own way." His ghost self said.
"I'M NOT MANIPULATED BY ANYONE!" Paul yelled to himself. His ghost self laughed.
"Really? What do you call your way of thinking? Those girls tell you what to do. Lynx manipulated you Dissinger manipulated you. Hell even I can manipulate you." Paul gritted his teeth.
"Really though, you still think you can control him without the sword anymore?" The older one said.
"Oh, piece of cake. He's too easy to influence. He's weaker than people think. Why, that locket shows it's true. Paul would be nothing without that locket. Without you."
"NOT TRUE!" the little yelled. "HE CAN THINK FOR HIMSELF!"
"THEN LET HIM!" His ghost self retaliated in anger. The little one backed behind the older one.
"Yes, let him. He can't though if you're constantly interfering." The older one said confidently.
"I tire of you." And with the flick of his wrist the older disappeared leaving Paul, his ghost, and the little girl. Paul starred in horror as he watched the little girl tremble in fright. He didn't think he could scare himself that much.
"Enough, it comes down to this. When the time comes Paul you will need to defeat yourself. In doing so you'll forget all that you know for all that you knew. You lose; you go on in life under my terms. You win; you go on in life under her terms." His ghost self pointed to the little girl who cuddled with Paul. "Remember your past, or live on in the future. This decision is harder than you think. And you must make it for yourself. Until then Paul, Adieu." His ghost self disappeared. All that was left was the little girl and him.
"What did that mean?" Paul asked.
"I don't know." the little girl said trailing off. She fell asleep in Paul's arms and shortly after so did Paul.