Chapter 3; Four Days - Zeros
Zeros watched the smoking mountain for a long while, with Windia on his shoulder.
"Oh no," Windia groaned sadly.
After standing there for awhile, Zeros finally turned around, and began his journey to Bilibin. The monsters were quiet, so he didn't have to fight that much.
"Zeros, you said something about somebody, who were you talking about?" Windia asked.
Zeros looked at the small Djinni and said: "Nobody."
Zeros refused to talk after that, and Windia caught the hint.
The two arrived in Bilibin easily enough, and Windia had found a cozy spot in Zeros's pouch. The trip through Goma Cave had worn him out greatly, so he went to visit the Inn first. Everyone was talking about the eruption, but Zeros didn't bother.
He ordered a drink for himself, and sighed. Zeros was not one to take breaks very lightly, due to the fact that he didn't like to show his vulnerable state. This was one of the reasons that he rarely slept.
Zeros's ear suddenly twitched and he looked up to notice someone enter the Inn. It was a sixteen-year-old boy of around 5'4, with a scar running diagonally across his face. His hair was black and he had eyes of a deep topaz color. He wore long purple robes, with dark purple stars scattered about on it. He also wore a pendant around his neck. Zeros knew the symbol engraved on the symbol all too well.
The Fire Clan Of The North.
The boy was rather out of place by the looks of it, and he walked through the Inn for awhile, until he came to a stop at Zeros's table.
"Can I sit here?" the boy asked.
Zeros nodded slightly, leaning on one elbow and holding the side of his hand in front of his mouth to hide his look of suspicion.
"I'm Janias, by the way, who are you?" the boy asked kindly, but Zeros could easily sense the boy's evil.
This boy could mean trouble.
Nonetheless, Zeros gave the boy his name.
"Zeros."
"Zeros? That's a nice name!" the boy said.
Zeros's eyebrows furrowed a little as he could clearly hear the sickly sweet voice he used.
"So um, what business do you have in Bilibin?" Janias asked, and Zeros looked at the boy strangely.
"What business is it of yours?" Zeros countered.
The boy looked a little confused.
"Hey, I just asked! I mean…"
"Travel," Zeros interrupted. "There, satisfied? I'm travelling around the globe, is that what you wanted to hear?"
Janias's mouth closed with a snap, then curved up.
"Yes."
"I hate you."
Zeros heard the boy out, as Janias told Zeros how he was trying to find his friends, who had vanished somehow. Zeros suspected that these 'friends', had simply left Janias alone.
'Ch, I can see why.'
Some talking (mostly by Janias) later, Janias left, and Zeros knew that he should too. Because he too, had someone important to find, and he knew that they hadn't abandoned him.
After leaving the Inn, he was about to leave, when he heard a girl crying. He turned around, and noticed a girl, sitting on a porch, clutching a broken doll. She had curly brown hair and light blue eyes. Zeros smiled sadly and walked over to the girl.
He bent down in front of her and said: "Hi there little girl."
The girl looked up, teary-eyed.
"Care to share your problem with me?" Zeros asked, leaning on one arm and the other resting on his knee.
The girl sniffed sadly and said: "My doll broke and I can't fix it! Mommy and daddy said I had to throw it away, but I got it from grandmama and it means a lot to me!"
She continued to cry, clutching the doll to her lithe body. Zeros sighed, and raked a hand through the girl's hair.
"Can I have a look at your doll? I might be able to fix it."
The girl had a hopeful glimmer in her eyes as she handed him the badly broken doll.
Zeros stood up so he could see better. With careful twists and turns, he started to maneuver the doll into its original shape. The girl continued to watch him as his hands continued to work on her doll.
After a few minutes, Zeros smiled, and lowered his hand. He slowly opened it, to reveal the girl's doll, looking better than ever. The girl gave a squeal of joy and grabbed her doll from Zeros's hand. The girl hugged the doll to her, and then hugged Zeros's leg, much to his surprise.
"Oh, thank you thank you thank you thank you!!" she kept repeating.
He finally pushed her aside and said: "Okay, okay, I get the point kid."
The kid was now smiling broadly, and she wiped the tears away from her eye. Zeros gazed up to check the time, and noticed it was around, 9:30.
He had to go, now.
Zeros looked down at the girl and said: "I need to ask your parents something, kid."
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Rander reached Bilibin rather easily, though something was bothering him. Ever since he left Vault, he'd been wondering about Zeros. Rander had been one of the few people to meet him, and for Rander, that was a funny experience, seeing as he never had to look that far up to see one's face, and now he had to.
'If I ever meet him again that is,' he added.
He looked into an alley… and stopped dead.
"Speak of the devil," he muttered as he watched the guy, asking directions to Kolima.
When Zeros walked out of the alley, he noticed Rander, and a look of confusion crossed his face, until recognition shone brightly on his face.
"Oh, it's you again," Zeros said, and Rander detected a small hint of relief.
"You seem rather relieved, why's that?" Rander asked.
"Ch, I thought it was that Janias again, that kid won't leave me alone for some reason!" Zeros said, a little agitated by the looks of it.
Rander was a little confused.
"Who's this 'Janias'?" he asked.
Zeros was about to open his mouth, when he looked up. Rander turned around, and immediately, his earlier question was answered.
"Him?" Rander asked.
"Yes, that's him."
Janias left the city, and Rander turned to Zeros.
"Where were you planning to go, Zeros?" he asked.
Zeros answered that he had to go to Fuchin Temple, and didn't know for sure which way Kolima was. Rander thought about that.
"I can see you're not really familiar around here, are you?" he asked.
Zeros shook his head and said: "Not really, I had already gotten lost in Goma Cave, so I suspect I'll be getting lost on my way to Kolima too."
Rander smirked, and said: "Maybe, maybe not."
Zeros raised a curious eyebrow at Rander, before realizing what he was trying to say.
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Some time later, Zeros and Rander left Bilibin, and headed southeast to the place where Bilibin Barricade had been 60 years ago. By Zeros' request, Rander told him something about the barricade.
"There's an ancient tree in Kolima Forest called Tret, who had been hit with a Psynergy Stone, which caused his rage to become enormous. People tried to chop him down, and he changed them into trees, all of Kolima for that matter. The barricade was made to stop people from going to Kolima, until Isaac, Garet, Ivan and Mia stopped the evil in Tret, saving everyone in Kolima."
"By Sol…"
Rander, for one reason or another, had no trouble keeping up with Zeros, who was relatively taller than him. Zeros looked a little pissed off, but Rander let it slide. The battles weren't long, and the journey to Kolima was rather uneventful.
When they entered Kolima, Zeros looked around, looking a little confused.
'Probably because of all the houses,' Rander thought.
The houses were actually trees, which was quite odd if you weren't used to it. Rander had already been to Kolima, so he didn't think it was weird at all. As they walked through town, they heard some people talking about a girl named 'Onyx', and how the girl had left when she started 'seeing things'.
Rander tried to get some more information about this Onyx, but the people didn't feel like telling them. When one woman turned around however, blue spirals that started from the ground moved up to surround Zeros, and he staid like that. Rander was shocked that Zeros knew how to use Psynergy, but kept his yap shut. The spirals finally stopped and Zeros looked at Rander.
"This Onyx, she went to Fuchin Temple because she was afraid of the things she saw. Apparently, she could see small specks of the future," he said.
Rander was dumbfound, and said: "And you can read people's minds."
Zeros rolled his eyes and said: "Well, yes, because I happen to be a Jupiter Adept, thank you very much!"
Rander shut up almost instantly. He was a little confused, due to the fact that Zeros didn't really look like an Adept, but like someone who was so tough, that he had never learned how to use Psynergy.
"I appreciate the comment, but if you don't mind, I'm going to try and get some more info on this 'Onyx'," Zeros said, and walked off.
It took Rander awhile to figure out what Zeros was talking about, but when he did, he cursed quietly, then went after him.
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She sat there, shivering, though it was actually quite warm. She wanted protection, someone who could save her from the things she saw.
'Oh sure, a trip to Fuchin Temple makes it all go away! Yeah right!' she thought angrily.
Suddenly---
She cried out as pain surged through her head as a vision came to her.
She fell face-first on the ground, crying in pain. She looked up at the bandits that were all drawing their blades at her as she cried out for help.
"Leave that girl alone!!" a cold voice commanded.
One of the bandits turned, but it was too late for him.
"PLASMA!!!!"
Three of the bandits cried out as they were electrocuted. The others took their friends---and ran. She watched them run off, wondering what had just happened.
"You okay??"
She looked up, looking up at a rather tall man. He looked at her with worry on his face, and his voice… was awfully familiar.
"Yeah…" she said, as she allowed him to pull her up. "Thanks."
The man smiled for a moment, then returned to a neutral face.
"Have we met? You look familiar," she said.
Panic darted through his eyes as he said: "I don't think so. This is my first visit to the east."
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She watched the mountain for awhile, pondering what was going on. One delicate brown eyebrow was raised, and she blinked her icy blue eyes, while holding her fists on her hips.
The sash of her robe was untied, so it waved about in the wind. The large staff she carried along held a wondrous red gem at the end.
She blinked twice more, then asked aloud: "Funny, who would be stupid enough to steal from Sol Sanctum??"
She tapped her foot impatiently when no answer came.
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With a howl of fury, the axe's blade sliced through the Spirit, as two blazing red eyes burned with rage. Zeros straightened, and whirled around to knock a Skeleton to the head with the flat of the blade. Rander watched with fascination as Zeros killed every monster that dared to come near him, without receiving something as small as a scratch.
After the fight, Zeros was positioned in a crouch, one hand on the ground, while the other hovered somewhere above it, holding his axe. Zeros slowly stood up as his eyes reverted back to sapphire blue.
"Zeros, how did you do that?!" Rander asked, placing his sword away.
Zeros placed his axe away, and said: "Do what? All I did was fight."
Rander looked confused, until he smirked.
"Then you should enter in Colosso."
"Co… what??" Zeros asked, and Rander tumbled over in shock.
"You mean you don't know what Colosso is?!"
"No," Zeros said.
"Where have you been then?! Under a rock?!" Rander asked.
"Are you going to tell me what Colosso is, or not?" Zeros asked, avoiding Rander's question.
Rander simply huffed.
"Fine. Colosso is a large event that takes place once a year in Tolbi. It's at the end of the week, but I'm not sure if we can make it to Tolbi within 4 days."
Zeros nodded.
"Sounds good enough."
Rander looked rather confused, but Zeros continued on his way again, making Rander walk after him.
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Zeros instantly felt a wave of strange energy flow over him when they entered the Fuchin Temple, and it made him slightly uneasy at first, until a calming voice told him to relax in the back of his mind. He sighed, and looked around, searching for something.
"Hey Rander." Rander looked up at Zeros. "I have an errand to run alright? It won't take long."
Without waiting for approval, Zeros ran off. Rander rolled his eyes, and decided to just walk around for awhile until Zeros came back.
He continued for awhile, until he found what he was looking for; a circle of 6 rocks with another in the middle.
Zeros smirked wickedly, and softly murmured: "Reveal."
Instantly, Zeros saw the chest standing there. He looked around, bent down, and opened the chest, getting out what he had left so many years ago. Carefully, he placed the sleeping critter inside his pouch, and walked away from the circle of stones and the chest that no one else could see.
A sudden cry of pain made him look around.
He gasped when he saw a girl with chin-length black hair that had a red tint to it, green eyes with red flecks and a pale complexion fall to the ground, surrounded by bandits. The girl cried out for help as the bandits reached for their blades, and no one seemed to notice.
"Leave that girl alone!!" Zeros shouted, his voice turning ice-cold, like it did every time when he was angry.
One of the bandits turned around, but dark magenta waves had already surrounded Zeros as he focussed.
"PLASMA!!!!" he screamed, and lightning shot down from the sky, taking down three of the bandits with ease.
They fell and Zeros hissed: "Get away from her!"
The remaining bandits grabbed their fallen comrades, and ran. The girl looked after them in confusion. Zeros walked closer.
"You okay??" he asked, extending his hand to her.
The girl turned to look at him, and it was almost like she recognized him.
"Yeah…" she said, accepting his hand and standing up. "Thanks."
Zeros smiled for a moment, then let it fall.
"Have we met? You look familiar," the girl said, and panic darted through Zeros' eyes.
"I don't think so," he said. "This is my first visit to the east."
Zeros studied what the girl was wearing and noticed that she wore black baggy guy's pants, a tight black tank top, a black cape, and black fingerless gloves.
The girl shrugged and then asked: "Who are you? My name's Onyx."
Zeros quirked an eyebrow at her.
"Oh, so you're that girl everyone's been talking about in Kolima."
Onyx blushed.
"They were?" she asked shyly.
"Indeed they were. I'm Zeros."
Onyx smiled up at him, a slight sparkle in her eye.
"Nice to meet you."
Zeros nodded and asked: "Just a question, do you have 'strange powers', besides 'seeing things'?"
Onyx looked sad and said: "I sometimes look at people, and hear them talking while they don't. It freaks me out!"
Zeros simply smiled and said: "Thought so. Just to tell you this kid, you're not the only one that can read one's mind."
Onyx looked horrified, but blue spirals swirled around Zeros as a small beam connected their foreheads together.
When the spirals stopped, Zeros said: "Okay, your favorite color is black, you left Kolima because your visions scared the living daylights out of you, and your father died last year."
He looked at Onyx with a smirk on his face as the girl gawked at him.
"How did you know that?!" she asked.
"Told you I was a mind reader."
"Wicked!"
The two calmly strode through the city as they had decided to meet with Rander.
"So Onyx, you handle a scythe, right? Exactly how good are you at that?" Zeros asked.
Onyx moved her cape a little aside to reveal a rather large scythe, and Zeros smiled.
"I guess I can beat most enemies. But I don't think I'll be able to enter in Colosso even if I wanted to," Onyx answered.
Zeros sighed.
"Why is everyone talking about this 'Colosso'? What's so special about it anyway?!" he asked aloud.
Onyx looked shocked.
"You're not excited about it?!"
"Why should I be? A few games, some fighting, and that's about everything that's really fun!"
Onyx stopped for a moment.
"Fun?! Fun?! You think fighting's just fun!?"
Zeros didn't answer, but it was almost as if he was recalling memories. Onyx, curious as to what he was thinking, used Mindread on him (Zeros had quickly taught her how to do that).
But, all she heard was: 'Onyx, stop tampering with my mind.'
She immediately stopped, shocked.
"Mental Block," Zeros muttered. "Keeps unwanted mind readers out."
'And keeps me from going mad,' he added in his mind.
As they approached the gate, they could see Rander leaning against one of the beams, arms folded and his face contorted n a scowl. He looked up, not showing any sign of that he was getting impatient, or was confused by Onyx.
"Who's she?" Rander asked.
"Rander, this is Onyx, Onyx, this is Rander," Zeros stated calmly.
Rander nodded at Onyx, who gave a shy nod back. After getting, aquatinted, the trio discussed a few things.
"So, Onyx, what are you planning to do anyway?" Zeros asked, obviously having learned only some facts about Onyx.
Zeros didn't read Onyx's mind again, because she knew that he knew that it freaked her out.
"I don't know. I had wanted to go see Colosso, but I don't think I'd make it, and I don't want to waste the journey to Tolbi just to find Colosso over and done with."
Zeros looked up, and checked the time.
"Well, if we hurry, we might be able to make it to Tolbi," he mumbled.
Onyx looked confused, until she smiled.
"Can I go with you?!" she asked pleadingly.
Zeros smiled at her and said: "I never said you couldn't, now did I?"
Before Zeros knew what happened, he was being hugged by Onyx.
"Thank you! Thank you thank you thank you!!" she cried.
Rander sweatdropped, but Zeros allowed the girl for awhile.
"I get the picture, Onyx."
Onyx released him, and smiled.
"If you give me a second, I need to get Gust!" she said, and ran off.
"Gust??" the two males asked aloud.
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"GUST!!" Onyx yelled, and a few moments later, a Jupiter Djinni hopped over to her.
"Yeah, Onyx, what is it?" the Djinni asked.
"We're going to Tolbi!" Onyx said, excited.
"We are?! WIPPEE!!!" Gust cheered, and jumped in Onyx's pouch.
Onyx grabbed a few more things of her own from her house, then ran back to Zeros and Rander.
"Okay I'm ready!"
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After Onyx said good-bye to Master Nyunpa, and received the Orb Of Force, the trio left the Fuchin Temple, heading for the forest south of the temple.
Mogal Forest.
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Upon entry, Zeros stopped. Someone was there, he could feel it.
"What is it, Zeros?" Onyx asked.
Zeros didn't respond. He got the Orb Of Force from his pouch, and focussed his Psynergy.
"Force!" he said, and a sea-through fist shot toward the bushes, and by the sound of it, it hit somebody. A yelp of pain and surprise was heard, and by the sound of it, it was female.
Out of the bushes, stepped a sixteen-year-old girl of around 5'7, with light aqua green hair, and brown eyes. She wore a lime colored long sleeve shirt, black chain mail pants, had a rock helmet on her cranium and wore some Seven-League boots. She looked rather angry, and her eyes became a steely blue color, and a cleric's necklace hung around her neck.
"Jerk! What was that for?!" she demanded.
Zeros didn't respond.
"Hey! Who are you?! And why were you following us?!" Onyx asked angrily.
"I wasn't following anybody!!" the girl shouted angrily, grabbing a rod from her back.
"And you'd be better off staying away!"
Zeros growled and reached one hand behind him, slowly, as he placed the Orb Of Force in his pouch.
"Yeah right, as if!" Rander said sarcastically. "You wouldn't be able to last 5 minutes against us. I highly doubt you'd be able to win."
"WHY YOU!!" the girl screamed and lunged at Rander with her rod in position.
Rander grabbed his sword and raced forward too. Their weapons clashed with a loud clang.
On impulse, Onyx grabbed her scythe within a second, and raced toward the unfamiliar girl. Rander swung at the girl's head, who dodged, and then jumped aside to avoid getting sliced by Onyx's scythe. The blade of the scythe cut a nearby tree in half, making Rander blink.
"Whoa, that thing's sharp," he said.
"Thank you!" Onyx said with a smile.
It was that moment, that Zeros decided to join the battle, his eyes blazing red with untamed fury. With his axe in both hands, he ran toward the unfamiliar girl, and the girl ran at him, but he jumped aside before she could reach him.
The girl whirled around to face him in anger, and shouted, as blue spirals circled her: "FROST!!!"
A sudden chill ran over Rander, Onyx and Zeros, and they all shivered, but Zeros growled angrily.
The girl got ready to race at him again, when her rod let out a howl.
"LEECH ONSLAUGHT!!" she screamed.
Zeros couldn't avoid her, and received the girl's rod against his stomach and face, having a large part of his health extracted, and was knocked him into a tree, which broke on impact.
"ZEROS!!!" Onyx and Rander shouted, but no response came from the now motionless body.
Rander growled angrily, and golden spirals circled him, and formed a small critter, which vanished in his sword.
He raced toward the girl, shouting: "LOAM!!!!"
Rander seemed to vanish, only to make place for a large horse, which crashed right into the strange girl. Rander soon landed on the place he'd been before, smirking wickedly. Onyx smiled too, and was about to summon Gust, when a seizure took a hold of her, and made her pass out with a small scream.
They were walking through a forest, searching for something. Onyx was accompanied by a strange cat-like woman. The woman wasn't exactly cat-like, but the way she walked made her think that.
She had black hair that came to her waist, was about 6'5, had two braids in her hair in a vertical line on her scalp, and searched the area with red eyes. Her ears were pointed, indicating that she belonged to the Fire Clan Of The North. She wore red pants with a black skirt attached, a red shirt with the bottom pulled though the top to make a tank top out of it, wore red clawed gloves with the fingers cut off, wore red heels, but had the heels cut off, making her walk on the front part of her feet. She also carried a bag around her waist.
"Where is he?" the woman asked herself. "Where is he!?"
They searched, and searched, trying to locate somebody, yet Onyx didn't know whom. After awhile, they met up with a whole gang of people. Most of them were unfamiliar to Onyx, but Rander was among the group as well, so they couldn't be the enemy. But… where was Zeros??
"Now where do we go?" a brown haired boy of around 6'2 asked. "Eve, did you find anything?"
He turned to a blue haired girl.
"Sorry Brett, but I didn't. Erica and me searched everywhere, we couldn't find him."
"You… you don't suppose he's…" a brown haired girl with one whopper of a staff started.
"I don't think so," a new voice said.
From the bushes, stepped a 15-year-old boy with golden hair and eyes, which were scrunched down into a frown. "If I know him, he's still out there, but too weak to call out for help."
"You sure?" the cat-like woman asked.
The boy nodded.
"Well, can we drink something first? I'm kinda thirsty," a purple haired girl asked.
And so, they walked toward a river, but there, they received a large shock. Because through the river, flowed another river, but this one was different…
It was red… it was blood…
A boy with flaming red hair mumbled: "Oh shit…"
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Onyx shot up with a choked scream, and instantly tried to calm herself. She kept a hand on her heart to calm it, and tried to even her breathing, before dropping back on the bed.
'Bed!?!?'
Onyx shot up again and looked around. She was in some sort of room… like that of a…
"Evening," a familiar voice said, and when Onyx turned her head, she saw Zeros standing in the doorway.
"How are you feeling?" he asked.
"I'm alright I guess," Onyx said as Zeros walked over. "What happened? Where are we?"
"We're in Xian, you passed out during the battle with Lira and I had to carry you all the way here."
"Lira?? OH! You mean that girl we battled?"
Zeros nodded.
"You gave me quite a scare there Onyx, what happened?"
"I… I had another vision," Onyx said, hanging her head.
Zeros noticed the sudden depression and changed the subject.
"Anyway, Rander's paying a visit to Master Feh's MA school, with the Orb Of Force. Wouldn't know why."
Onyx looked up, confused.
"What time is it?" Zeros blinked, then walked to the window to look outside. His eyes squinted as he leaned on the window-frame, staring up in the sky.
"Well, I'd say… 10:30 in the evening," Zeros finally muttered.
"WHAT?! By Luna!! How long did I sleep!?" Onyx asked, jumping out of bed.
Zeros turned around, glad that Onyx still wore her clothes, besides her cape.
"A long time," Zeros mumbled, turning around and leaning against the windowsill.
That's about the point that Rander came in.
"Oh, I see you're a awake," he said.
Onyx nodded as she picked up her cape, scythe and pouch from the nightstand beside the bed.
"Hey Zeros, I still want to know how you did that!" Rander said, turning his attention to the silver haired man.
Zeros blinked.
"Did what?! I already told you! All I do is fight!" he said.
Onyx looked confused.
"What happened then?" she asked Rander.
"Oh by Luna, you should've seen him Onyx! You won't believe this!"
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Zeros dodged Lira yet again, looking rather pissed off. Lira made another attempt to hit Zeros with her rod, but he easily grabbed the rod in his hand. She gasped, and gave a yelp as Zeros grabbed the rod with both his hands, and swirling her around, before letting her fly into a tree herself.
"Why you!!" Lira growled, and her rod gave another howl.
"LEECH ONSLAUGHT!!!" she screamed again, and raced at Zeros again.
But his axe blocked her.
Suddenly, it was Zeros's weapon that gave a howl. Ultimate dark magenta swirls circled around him, then centered in the gem that formed the pommelstone of the axe, making it glow with an ultra magenta glow that shaded everything in the same aura.
"Grrrr! Take this!! REIGN OF JUPITER!!!!" Zeros screamed, and aimed the pommelstone at Lira.
The beam that shot forth from it was enormous, and could not be avoided, not by a long shot.
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Onyx looked at Zeros in shock, who didn't even seem affected. He looked like he couldn't care.
"It's not such a big deal," Zeros mumbled.
"No big deal?!" Onyx asked. "You could beat everyone in Colosso with a move like that!"
"Colosso, Colosso. What's so special about it?!" Zeros demanded.
Rander looked a little confused.
"Well, people intend to either make a lot of money or become famous fighters! Isn't that what everyone wants?!" Onyx demanded.
"For your information! I for one, do NOT enjoy being famous or rich! What's so important about fame and fortune anyway!? It doesn't buy you friendship!" Zeros screamed, then raced out of the room, not to be seen for a long time.
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Onyx lay in bed as the moon shone, but the seizures kept her awake, and somehow, she managed not to scream.
The tall man grunted as the woman elbowed him in the stomach, but he quickly grabbed her arm and swung her away. The battle went on and on, until she managed to lead him to a ridge. When he felt air beneath his heel, he looked down quickly, before turning around again. But it was too late. Her fist connected with his chin, which made a sick cracking sound, and he was sent flying…
Onyx shot up, and quickly covered her mouth with her hand to prevent a scream from coming from her mouth. She had a terrible feeling of déjà vu, and that was something she didn't like. After calming down, she just sat there, wondering where Zeros was right now. The only sound in the room, was her breathing, which was even again.
Suddenly, she heard a strange squeaky voice say: "So, what are we going to do now?"
"I had hoped they were at Fuchin Temple, looks like I was wrong," a very familiar voice said.
"You don't start crying! If you do I'll cry too and I don't wanna!"
A sigh was heard.
"I know."
"Hey! I know!" the squeaky voice said, and some soft whispering was heard.
When Onyx couldn't hear anything anymore, she snuggled under the covers, and tumbled asleep.
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Rander and Onyx found themselves walking down the stairs, both upon hearing fighting going on outside. They walked outside, and noticed a lot of people from Master Feh's MA school fighting each other, trying to best each other. Most matches were rather one-sided though. There was someone else watching the matches as well.
"Hi Zeros," Onyx said, hoping he'd forgotten about last night.
Unfortunately, he didn't forget.
"What took you two so long?" he asked with a cold voice that was void of any emotion.
Rander gulped silently, and Onyx shuffled a little with her feet.
"I… I'm really sorry about last night…" Onyx started, but was rudely cut off.
"Forget it, let's go already!" Zeros commanded, and stalked off, leaving them to catch up to him.
Rander instantly noticed that Zeros was walking a lot faster than usual. He didn't know why, but Rander knew that Zeros was still mad at them, because his eyes were now a dark ruby-red hue.
The battles were fairly easy, and spent in utter silence. Zeros refused to speak to either of them as they continued on their way.
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Zeros cleaned his axe on a nearby bush in Alpine Crossing, where they were now, and Onyx watched him as he placed it away. Rander sheathed his sword, not really bothering to clean the blood off of it. After a few more minutes, Onyx finally opened her mouth.
"Zeros…"
Zeros didn't seem to listen, but Onyx continued anyway.
"Look, I'm really sorry about what I said, okay?"
No response.
"Zeros… please, forgive me?"
No response for awhile, until Zeros's head turned, and Onyx smiled, because he was smiling, and his eyes were sapphire blue again.
He turned and said: "Hey, that's what friends are for, right?"
*******************************************
They continued on, entering the Lama Temple, which held an almost similar air as Fuchin Temple, only different. Zeros was looking around, as if searching for someone. Onyx looked around in awe, amazed by the size of the Temple.
"Hey Zeros, can I look around for awhile?" she asked.
Zeros looked at her.
"Sure, go ahead," he said.
"Come on Rander! Let's go!!" Onyx said, and started to pull Rander along, who was forced to comply.
Zeros chuckled, and walked off.
Onyx looked on in awe, enjoying the view, while Rander silently tagged along. He knew that if he resisted, Onyx would continue to pull him along anyway, so it didn't matter too much. They continued their sightseeing for some time, before they decided to search for Zeros. This however, proved to be a very difficult task.
Zeros might be tall, but he was nowhere to be seen, as if he had left without them.
"Where is he?" Onyx finally dared to ask.
"I wouldn't know."
Rander looked around, confused.
"You don't think he'd leave us? Do you?" Onyx asked, lightly scared.
"It's a possibility, but I can't say for sure," Rander answered.
Onyx's face fell, and she looked like she was ready to cry.
"Why would Zeros leave without us? I thought we made up…" she said, sniffling lightly.
Onyx's words reached the ears of another girl, who had been searching too, and she turned around, holding the large staff in her hand.
'A girl dressed in black, a guy shorter than me… that HAS to be them!' she thought and walked over.
"Excuse me," she said, and the two turned to her in confusion.
The girl had waist-length brown hair with a red bow in it, a braid and had icy blue eyes. She wore yellow shorts, a white robe with red triangles on the trims, a loose yellow tank top and light brown sandals.
"Are you Onyx and Rander, by any chance?" she asked.
Onyx gaped.
"How… how did you?!" Rander started.
"Doesn't matter for now, my name's Sara, and Master Feizhi asked me to look for you," the girl named Sara said.
Onyx and Rander looked at each other, shrugged, and followed Sara.
*******************************************
They came at some sort of temple, only this one was bigger and more fancy than the others that were surrounding it. Onyx was reminded of the Fuchin Temple, but remained silent. Rander had heard of Master Feizhi, and knew that she was good, I mean, real good! He had never seen her, so this would probably be his first time.
The trio entered the temple, and instantly noticed the still young looking Feizhi, with long, wavy purple hair, and clear magenta eyes. Feizhi was already over seventy, but still looked as beautiful as ever, if not more beautiful.
Feizhi smiled as the three of them entered, and said: "I knew you two would come, sooner or later. I haven't been wrong with anything so far."
Rander didn't bother, but it sort of freaked Onyx out.
"I had been wanting to talk to both of you in private, for I have a special message for both of you. Rander, will you follow me?"
Feizhi walked into a chamber at the end of the room, and Rander shrugged, before walking in.
Onyx waited, unsure of what was going on in there.
Sara shifted the large staff she had to her other shoulder and said: "So, you are an Adept?"
Onyx looked confused, before she remembered that Zeros had said, that she was a Jupiter Adept, like he himself was.
"Yeah, Jupiter."
Sara smiled broadly.
"What a coincidence! I'm a Jupiter Adept too!" she said.
Onyx smiled too.
"You are?!"
"Yeah!"
After a few minutes of talking, Rander walked out of the chamber.
"Hey Onyx! You're up!" he said.
Onyx nodded and walked into the chamber.
Onyx instantly noticed that the room was decorated with black, red, and purple, which gave the room an eerie atmosphere. On the altar stood a picture-frame, with a picture of a young girl, but the colors had faded over the years. The child was an innocent one, easy to tell, but she looked incredibly shy.
A sudden pain in her head made Onyx wince as she grasped her head with one hand.
"MAMA!!! PAPA!!!" a child's voice cried out, and tears were evident in her voice.
A young girl by the age of 5 ran toward a place where painful screams were heard. When she got there… she stopped…
"MAMA! PAPA! NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!"
"Onyx," a gentle voice said, and Onyx lifted her head to look at Feizhi. "Is something wrong?"
Onyx removed her hand and said: "Not really. Who's that girl?"
Onyx pointed at the picture, and Feizhi looked at the frame.
"Oh, her. She was a young girl I met in Vale. I had gone there to see the wonders of Sol Sanctum. Being a Master here in Lama Temple, allows me to view it. The child was so innocent, she knew nothing of what had happened in Sol Sanctum 60 years ago, and her parents didn't want her to know. They said it was for the best. I agreed on that one."
"Was she an only child?" Onyx asked.
"No, she had another sibling, but she had died at the age of four. Her sibling was 5 years older, if she had been alive."
"What happened to her?" Onyx was curious, she couldn't help it.
Feizhi hung her head.
"I knew what would happen, but a little too late. I could never forgive myself for that day."
"What?! What happened?!" Onyx asked, scared.
"She was killed…"
Onyx would've paled, if she hadn't been naturally pale already.
"A monster killed her, and her parents with it. Some of the village elders say that the girl's spirit still searches those of her parents, whom she can't find. I left Vale a week later, after the burial, and returned to Lama Temple. I knew I could never forgive myself for what happened that day."
Onyx lowered her head.
"I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault."
Feizhi took a deep breath, and said: "Anyway, I wanted to talk with you about something you've seen."
Onyx's eyes widened.
"You had a vision, about going to a stream, and finding blood. Has the vision continued?"
Onyx shook her head.
"All those people… I didn't know them… but… Sara…… she was with us! And… Zeros… he wasn't…… he wasn't there…"
Feizhi nodded.
"It could be that Zeros had been still searching, and would join you after you went up the stream, or found whoever you'd been looking for."
Onyx smiled.
"Hey yeah! Of course! Zeros is too tough to be beaten that easily!" Onyx said holding up her fists. "He won't die! I know he won't!"
Feizhi smiled.
"Now, you could ask Sara if she'd want to join you, but Zeros has to give his approval."
"Yeah!" Onyx said, and ran out of the chamber.
Once Onyx was gone, Feizhi's smile vanished, and she hung her head. Someone stepped out of the shadow and placed a firm but gentle hand on her shoulder. Feizhi sniffed, and looked up into his sapphire blue eyes.
"You have to brave, I'll be fine."
Feizhi nodded.
"Then you have to survive, you must! Promise me Zeros!"
Zeros nodded and held his old friend's hand.
"I'll make it through this. I promise."
*******************************************
The trio now walked through the streets of the Lama Temple, hoping to catch a glimpse of Zeros, but finding none.
"How exactly do we find this Zeros?" Sara asked, switching her staff onto her other shoulder.
"Well, he's mighty tall, he has silver hair, so, it's not that hard to find him," Rander said.
"I agree on that one," a familiar voice said, and the three of them turned around.
"Where were you two? I've been looking all over for you!" Zeros replied a little angry, walking over.
"Sorry Zeros, but Master Feizhi had wanted to see us. Oh, and this is Sara," Onyx said. "Sara, this is Zeros."
Sara smiled and Zeros seemed to calm down. The two shook hands.
"Zeros, would it be alright if Sara went with us?" Onyx asked.
Zeros looked at her, lightly confused.
It soon faded and her said: "I don't see why not."
*******************************************
The sun had been murderous today already, well, now it was even worse!
Zeros pulled the teat of with his teeth and poured some of the water over Onyx's head, who was the worst of all them. Because black colors absorb thrice as much heat as white clothing, which made it truly unbearable for the young girl. Rander and Sara were doing fine, and Zeros was doing relatively well too, but Onyx was burning up.
Rander wiped the sweat from his brow as Zeros put the teat back on the waterskin he carried along.
"Danged heat!" he mumbled.
Yeah, well, I wouldn't want to be in the Lamakan Desert either. Sara was leaning on her staff, panting slightly.
"This is great… we're in the middle of a desert, and the water will run low if we keep using it on Onyx!"
"Rander, calm down. I know where we're going alright?" Zeros said, and placed his waterskin away.
"Now that's a first."
"I'm serious. And by the way, if you stay on the spot you are now, you'll get a little soaked."
Rander looked down at the sand he was standing on. Cautiously, Rander took a few steps back, still not comprehending what Zeros meant. Sara looked at Zeros with wonder, and then looked at the circle of six rocks that Rander had been standing in.
"You mean that you can use…" Sara started, when she was interrupted.
"REVEAL!!!" Zeros shouted as blue spirals circled around him, the world hid in darkness, and a section was displayed… with in the center an oasis!
Rander looked shocked, and Onyx looked at the crystal clear water in wonder. Sara was looking at Zeros, who had moved over to the water, and was refilling the waterskin. The others finally calmed down and walked over to drink.
The water was remarkably sweet, and they couldn't get enough, but Zeros told them that they had to save some for other travelers. It made them laugh, and they continued on, with new courage.
*******************************************
They were a little soaked, so that they could last at least a little longer in the heat of the Lamakan Desert. They came to another circle of six rocks, but Zeros didn't use Reveal right away, which usually meant that this wasn't an oasis. They had had that before, and had to face an AntLion, which they didn't want again.
"REVEAL!!!" Zeros finally screamed.
As they looked in the center of the circle, they nearly dropped their weapons.
There, sat a small white critter with beady golden eyes, a golden tail, a silver underbelly, and small arms and legs. They instantly knew it was a Djinni… but… the question was… what kind of Djinni?
It looked up, and noticed them.
It looked over all of them, and lingered on Zeros.
"Who are you people??" the Djinni asked.
"Uh… I'm Onyx, and these are Sara, Rander, and Zeros."
The Djinni nodded.
"I see. Well, I'm Shine, a Saturn Djinni, nice to meet you all."
"Saturn?!?!" Sara, Rander and Onyx said at the same time.
"By Sol! I knew of Jupiter, Mercury, Venus and Mars Djinnis, but I've never heard of Saturn Djinnis before!" Sara said, confused.
"Yeah, well, us Saturn Djinnis only come out in time of desperate need. We were all born in Luna Sanctum, on the other side of the planet, 20 years ago. Unfortunately, that's also where the Uranus Djinnis come from. Uranus Djinnis are incredibly dangerous, and shouldn't be used at all."
Shine gave a sigh.
"Sad, I'm the only one in this desert. I'm hungry, I'm thirsty, and I WANT TO GET OUT OF HERE!!!" the Djinni screamed.
Zeros, who had remained ultimately calm during it all, finally spoke.
"Then come with us."
Shine looked up in shock.
"Y-you mean it?!"
Zeros nodded.
"YEEEEEEEESS!! ALL RIGHT!!!"
Shine hollered in joy. It let out a howl, and dissipated into numerous flashes of bright light, which touched the place where Zeros's heart resided.
Onyx looked up at Zeros, who didn't seem shocked at all.
"Well, let's go," Zeros finally said, as he began to walk again.
The others soon followed, silently.
*******************************************
It was red… it was blood…
A boy with flaming red hair mumbled: "Oh shit…"
Slowly, they all walked up the stream, watching the large stream of blood. Onyx began to grow scared. She hoped Zeros would walk up to them, and fast, for she was fearing he wasn't going to.
The golden haired boy pushed some leaves aside… and gasped audibly. The cat-like woman blinked, and looked too. She stumbled back, eyes as wide as saucers.
"No! That… that can't be…!"
Onyx almost couldn't look, but she moved closer.
*******************************************
"NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" Onyx screamed as she shot up in bed.
She looked around, scared. Sara lit a candle and looked at Onyx.
"Onyx! What happened?!" she asked.
"Nothing… just… just a…" Onyx started, but decided to drop it. "Never mind… G'night," she said, and snuggled into her bed.
Sara looked confused. She finally shrugged, but instead of going back asleep, she went downstairs.
They were in Kalay, after leaving the Lamakan Desert behind them. Rander had captured another Venus Djinni, and afterwards, they went to the Inn to rest up for the night. They had partially forgotten about Shine, but Zeros didn't want to talk about it. Sara arrived downstairs, and stopped in her tracks.
"Zeros! What are you doing up at this time of night?!"
Zeros looked up from where he was sitting, gazing out the window, to look at her briefly, and returning to his stargazing.
"Nothing," Zeros murmured, but something was different about his voice.
It took Sara some time, but when she realized, she felt pity for Zeros. He felt sad, although she still had to figure out why.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Sara asked.
"There's nothing to talk about," Zeros said softly.
Sara walked over, and sat down in front of Zeros, who looked at her with those sapphire blue eyes. She looked closely, and noticed the amount of pain in them. So much pain, that it was remarkable that he hadn't broken down yet. There was something in his past that he wanted to forget, but couldn't.
Sara laid one of her hands on that of Zeros, who looked at it, confused. His gaze moved to hers, and she kept a neutral face, trying to look neither happy nor sad.
"Most of the times, if you talk about things, they heal faster. They won't heal if you keep it bottled up."
Zeros seemed to mull over her words, but remained silent.
Sara was about to open her mouth, when she was cut off.
"I lost my family…"
Sara's eyes widened.
"What?!"
"I lost my sister… my parents… and I don't even remember if I had any other family…"
"Then… how did you survive?" Sara asked, carefully holding Zeros's hand, like it was porcelain.
"I can't remember… I forgot my age as the years passed… it's not that important anyway…"
Sara looked utterly shocked, and Zeros wouldn't look at her.
"I still remember my parents though… I learned that I had a sister much later… I never knew her though…"
Zeros sighed.
"That must be horrible… I pity you… really I do…" Sara said.
Zeros looked at her, then lowered his head.
"I appreciate that you care," Zeros said, and pried Sara's hand loose from his own, "but I don't enjoy being pitied. By nobody."
Zeros stood up, and left the Inn, and Sara could've sworn she saw a small crystalline droplet run down his cheek.
*******************************************
Morning came rather quickly, but Zeros was nowhere to be seen. Sara, Onyx and Rander searched the city, but nothing. Sara felt a little guilty, for she felt that this was all her fault. However…
As they arrived at the docks, they instantly noticed Zeros watching the water. His cape was billowing around him, and a gently breeze ruffled his hair. He turned around to face them, then turned back to the water. All the pain from last night seemed to have been washed away by the gentle breeze of the wind and the sound of the waves.
"Hey, you okay?" Onyx asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks for asking."
Sara was silent for awhile. He was acting like last night never happened. Maybe it was even better that way.
"You know," Onyx suddenly said. "I never thought we'd make it to Tolbi in time. I mean, Colosso is tomorrow, and we can still get there on time!"
Zeros turned and smiled.
"Then we should get on the boat," Zeros said, and almost everyone's jaw dropped.
"You mean… that you…" Sara started, and then she noticed that Zeros had pulled out four tickets.
"Zeros, why did you…?" Onyx started, but Zeros shook his head.
"Doesn't matter, let's just go."
*******************************************
"No……" the child murmured. "Mama…… Papa…… Sissy …… No…… Don't leave me all alone…… Please……"
Tears fell down the child's face, as it continued to cry, grasping the blood red axe in one hand.
"No……"
The child's voice sounded again and again. Softer. Softer… until no more sound came…
Zeros watched the water as he stood at the starboard side of the ship. He could still remember that day. They were gone… he still couldn't believe it. But somehow, he knew they were still alive. That they still lived, wondering where he was, when he'd come home, what he's been through.
He glanced back at his friends, who were each doing their own things.
Rander was finally cleaning his sword, wiping bloodstains from it. Onyx was talking to Sara, both of them laughing every now and then.
Zeros turned away. It had been so long since he'd been with other people. He hardly talked, making his voice hoarse, but no one seemed to bother. Talking hurt his throat, and he thought he'd be better off not talking at all.
Strange though…
He seemed to feel rather comfortable when he was around other Jupiter Adepts. He had no idea why that was.
"LAND HO!!!" one of the sailors suddenly shouted, and Zeros looked up.
"Already??" he heard Rander say.
"Whoa, that was fast!" Onyx said.
Zeros looked up. It was near the late afternoon. Those three had been so busy, that they didn't realize half a day had come and gone.
As they left the boat, they headed straight for Tolbi, noticing that there were a lot of people coming to see Colosso, and some looked like they were planning to enter. Zeros had decided to join as well, he needed some fighting to ease his troubled mind. Fighting had been the only thing keeping him from going insane from the loss of his family.
The Mental Block he had created around his mind was also destined to keep his troubled thoughts out. What strengthened this barrier, was fighting. Zeros banished most other thoughts from his mind as they entered Tolbi.
"Wow! I can't believe I'm in Tolbi! This is amazing!!" Onyx said, ecstatic.
"Hey, chill out. What's the deal? It's just a city!" Zeros said, turning to Onyx.
"How can you be so calm?! We're in Tolbi! Where the oldest man in the world lives! Doesn't that excite you in the least!?" Sara asked.
Zeros sweat dropped.
"Babi? What about him?" Rander said, his arms crossed over his chest. "He's just some old geezer who wants to live forever. Big deal."
Zeros nodded and said: "I agree on that one. If you wish to grow old, don't slow the aging process, but make it count until it's over."
*******************************************
Did anyone notice that this is the same ending as the last chapter, only with the names? Well, not much new characters, but there was a small spoiler of the ending. Can anyone guess what's going to happen? Please don't review if you do, you might spoil it for those who don't know.
The Saturn and Uranus Djinnis are new, but don't worry, it'll be explained later on. Or, if you can't wait with it, read the story "A Warrior Named Zealot". It's not mine, but the author of that story, gave me permission to use two of his characters. Good story! Really.
New Characters that have been named:
Janias Silvermoon
Lira
Onyx
Sara