Episode 02- Discovery
(Author's Note: Long and probably boring chapter ahead. However, it's necessary if I want to avoid explaining everything later. Enjoy! ^_^)
If there's one thing that's changed around here since we've come back to Vale, it's definitely the fact that there's never a dull day around here anymore. The friends that we've brought with us provide enough excitement to last a lifetime, and then some…
Of course, Piers just may be the exception to that whole 'excitement' thing. Ever since he started living here, it's been nothing but work, work, and more work for him. While the rest of us spend our days horsing around or doing whatever it is we like to do, Piers is running around the town, delivering groceries to an elderly resident.
It makes me feel kind of guilty, just sitting around or playing games when he's hard at work and all. My family is certainly impressed with him, and now they're always asking why I can't be as helpful as he is. You might say that I'm even just a tad jealous of his unbreakable work ethic.
But if you look at it from his perspective, you certainly can't blame the guy for wanting to do new things. After all, he's been locked up in his small little village for probably over a hundred years! If I had been living in Lemuria, I probably would have thrown myself into the ocean by now just to get away from it all.
However, Piers is certainly not the guy you want to talk to if you're looking for groundbreaking discoveries. While it's true that he works day in and day out and thus gets to see pretty much everything that goes on around the town, what's new to him is what Isaac, Felix, Jenna and I grew up with. Anytime you ask him what new things he's found that day, he'll probably just show you the town's prized chicken or something along those lines.
After a while, I guess he got the idea that we weren't too dazzled with his findings anymore, and he's been keeping them to himself. Which makes it all the more puzzling as to why he called me to see him today…
"Man, you'd think that Mia could have at least told me where he was," Garet thought to himself as he looked around the town square. "It's almost impossible to find him if I don't know where he is!"
Suddenly, he spotted a familiar face among the throngs of people. "Jenna! Hey, wait up!" he cried as he ran to catch up with her.
Jenna turned around. "Oh hey, Garet," she said with a smile. "What's up?"
"Have you seen Piers around?" Garet asked. "He wanted to see me about something, but I don't know where he is right now."
Jenna thought for a moment. "Hmm, the last time I saw him he was at old man Mueller's house," she said. "That was about a half hour ago though, so he might be halfway across the village by now."
"Okay, thanks for the lead, Jenna," Garet said as he took off in another direction. "See you later!"
"Uh, okay… see you," Jenna said as she watched him go. "Wow, why in the world would Piers want to talk with Garet, of all people?" she thought to herself.
Following the lead that I got from Jenna, I ended up at old man Mueller's house. He's the town historian, and also one of the oldest living residents of Vale. He's always fascinated by new things, like Kraden. He almost never leaves his work for anything, not even for food, so Piers helps him out most of the time by going to the market to buy groceries for him.
When Garet arrived at old man Mueller's house, he saw that the door was open. "What's up? He never leaves his door open, probably afraid that the sunlight would destroy some of his precious artifacts," Garet thought to himself.
As he approached the door, he heard some voices coming from inside. One of them was the voice of old man Mueller, and the other belonged to Piers.
"Indeed, this is a miraculous discovery, m'lad!" Mueller said with enthusiasm. "It is certainly a big step in proving that there are other civilizations scattered throughout Weyard that we have not yet found!"
"Um, hello?" Garet said as he knocked on the open door lightly.
"Ah, Garet! You came!" Piers said as he turned around.
"Yeah, Mia gave me your message. So what did you want to speak to me about?" Garet said as he walked into the house.
"Take a look at this tablet that I found," Piers said, pointing to the rectangular piece of stone that was on Mueller's round table.
Garet looked at the tablet. "Hmm, this kind of looks like a summon tablet," he said.
"That's what I thought as well, but according to mister Mueller it could be something much greater!" Piers said, barely able to conceal his excitement.
"Indeed it could," Mueller agreed. "Why don't you pull up a chair, Garet? I'll explain the whole thing again for you."
Garet found a stool nearby, so he pulled it over and sat down beside Piers. "Go ahead, I'm all ears," he said.
"Do you see these markings on the tablet?" Mueller said, pointing to a few strange patterns that were carved into the stone. The patterns were a bit faded from years of wear, but they were extremely large, covering almost all of the tablet.
Garet looked. "Weird… they kind of look like monsters," he observed. "But what's that engraved beside it?" he said, pointing to another picture that was near the ones that Mueller had pointed to.
"Is that not obvious to you? After all, you are one yourself," Mueller replied with a chuckle.
Garet didn't really understand what he had meant by that, but he took another look anyway. "Hey, it looks kind of like an Adept!" he said after a while.
Mueller nodded. "Here you can see the illustration of a person surrounded by the elements of earth, fire, wind, and water. And beside that picture, we see another that depicts the wild beasts of Weyard."
"So… what does it all mean?" Garet asked. "The two don't really seem to fit together."
"There appears to be one more picture over here that we have not observed yet," Piers said, pointing to a corner of the tablet that was covered by a shadow.
"Oops, sorry. Looks like I'm in the way," Garet said, standing up and moving to the side. "Let's take a look at it."
As the three gazed at the newly uncovered picture, it began to look more and more like the others that they had already seen. Only this one looked different in its way…
"The best I can say is that it looks like a combination of the other two," Garet mused after a long silence.
"I completely agree," Piers concurred. "You can see the person in the second picture, only this time he's surrounded by the beasts that we saw in the first picture."
"And if I'm not mistaken, the person depicted in this picture bears some resemblance to the monsters around him as well," Mueller added. "Perhaps a beast-human of some sort…?"
"This is all quite mysterious," Piers said as he assumed a thinking pose. "Maybe Kraden could be of some assistance right now."
"Hmm, you're right there," Garet agreed. "If there's anyone who can solve this mystery, it's that old coot."
"You forget, friend, that I am far older than Kraden will ever be," Piers said with a funny look.
"Oops, sorry about that, Piers," Garet said, realizing his mistake. "Of course, you're just as young and spry as the rest of us, so you're different in a lot of ways."
"In Lemuria, Kraden would be considered to have much wisdom for someone of his age," Piers added. "Perhaps we should pay him a visit and see if he can help us figure some of this out."
Garet nodded. "Mister Mueller, would you mind if we borrowed the tablet for a while? We're just going to bring it to Kraden so he can take a look at it."
"Please, be my guest," Mueller said courteously. "If there's anybody that can help us decipher this ancient tablet, it's Kraden. I'll just be happy to have contributed something to this whole discovery."
"Okay, thank you very much. Come on, Piers, help me lift this thing," Garet said as he picked up the front half of the tablet.
"Right!" Piers said as he lifted the back half. "To Kraden's we go!"
I never thought that I would ever be so excited about a bit of scientific mumbo-jumbo, but there was definitely something about that tablet that I just had to figure out. Piers was the one who had discovered it, but he didn't seem as excited as my about this whole thing.
I don't know why I'm so eager. It's just something that I know in my heart I have to do.
"Say, Piers, how did you find this thing anyway?" Garet grunted as the two of them walked along still carrying the large tablet.
"I was delivering groceries to old man Mueller today, and I just saw it lying in a thick of bushes," Piers replied. "After I dropped off the supplies at his place, I went back to collect it."
"How did you notice one rock in a big bunch of bushes?" Garet asked. "Sure, it's got some funny markings on it, but you would still have a hard time seeing it."
"That's the funny thing," Piers answered. "I didn't just spot it in the bushes. When I first saw it, the tablet was glowing."
That was certainly quite surprising. "You're joking, right? This thing was glowing?" Garet said.
Piers nodded. "Not only that, I felt a strange energy resonating from it as well. Almost as if it were Psynergy…"
"Okay, now you're starting to freak me out. This chunk of rock was glowing when you saw it, and it gives off Psynergy?" Garet said.
Piers nodded again. "It's hard to believe, but it's all true."
"Then why isn't it glowing or giving off Psynergy right now?" Garet asked.
This time, Piers shrugged his shoulders. "It stopped glowing the moment I picked it up, and it also stopped giving off Psynergetic energy. That's why I brought it back to old man Mueller to have it examined."
"Did you really think that there would be a summon tablet buried under our little town?" Garet asked. "Come on, Piers, what were you thinking?"
Just then, the two were interrupted by another presence. "Hey! Garet, Piers!" a voice called out.
The two of them turned around to see Jenna running towards them. "Hey, Jenna, what's up?" Garet said as he put down the tablet to rest his tired arms.
"I'm looking for my brother," Jenna replied. "I can never seem to find him anywhere these days…"
"He's probably down at Kraden's with Ivan," Piers said. "Those two seem really interested in the studies of Alchemy and the world."
Jenna sighed. "You two wouldn't happen to be going that way, would you?" she asked.
"As a matter of fact, we are," Garet said. "We've got to get this thing checked out," he said, pointing to the tablet.
"Whoa, what is that thing?" Jenna asked, looking down at the two boys' cargo.
"We don't know. That's why we're going to get it checked out," Garet said, rolling his eyes as he did so.
Jenna glared at him. "Oh well, could you tell my brother to be home by dinner when you get there, Piers?" she said, turning away from Garet.
"Sure, I guess," Piers said. "I'll take your message to him."
"Okay, thanks a lot," Jenna said with a smile. "At least you're a lot more reliable than some other people around here," she said as her eyes flashed towards Garet.
Piers laughed. "I think Garet's just as reliable as a well-trained dog," he said.
Jenna rolled her eyes. "Maybe, now if only he would stop acting like one…"
The two shared a laugh over that. "Hey, you guys! I'm still right here!" Garet said from the side, not too happy about the direction of their conversation.
"Well, I guess I'd better be going," Jenna said. "Thanks again, Piers!" she said as she ran back the way she had come.
"Bye!" Piers said with a wave.
"Gee, where's my thanks?" Garet thought to himself as he picked up the tablet again. "Come on, Piers, we're hauling out. At least then I can get further away from her…"
"Really, you two fight like a married couple," Piers said with a laugh.
"That's not funny, man," Garet said as he took a playful swing at Piers.
Jenna and I might have grown up together along with Felix and Isaac, but that didn't necessarily mean that we were the best of friends. In fact, we disagreed about practically everything that we could argue about; everything from food to hairstyles was fair game for us. It's not that we hated each other, it's just that we didn't really get along that well. We've kind of fixed things up now, but we still argue from time to time, if only for old time's sake.
And another thing, Jenna may be pretty and easy on the eyes to some extent, but it's no mystery that she wants to be with Isaac. That's really no surprise, seeing how he acted infinitely nicer and friendlier to her than I ever did. If there's one person that can cool her flames of anger, that person would be Isaac.
Perhaps… if I had tried to be just a bit kinder to her before, things might be different between us now. But even if I tried to negotiate a cease-fire with her, we would just forget about it when the next argument came along.
"Here we are," Piers said as the two boys arrived at Kraden's new cottage. It wasn't really a cottage anymore, since it had been rebuilt in the size of a house. Most of it was still used to hold books, however. The outside had also been nicely decorated, with its flowery gardens and exotic trees in the near vicinity. Of course, Kraden had needed some help to set it all up, but it all paid off in the end.
"And not a moment too soon," Garet said as he put down the tablet that they had been carrying for almost an hour. "Man, that thing is heavier than it looks."
Piers went to go knock on the front door. "Hello? Is anybody in there?"
The door opened a short while later, and Felix was the person behind it. "Hey there, what brings you two here?" he said, his brown eyes gazing with surprise at the giant rock behind Piers.
"This," Garet said as he dragged the tablet up the porch steps. "We think it might be a historical artifact, but we need Kraden to check it out."
"I see. Well, come on in," Felix said as he went back inside.
Piers came back and helped Garet bring the tablet into the house. "Now you know why I called for you specifically," he said with a grin.
"Huh? I don't get it," Garet said.
"I had a feeling that we would have to do something like this with the stone, so I asked myself who was the strongest friend that I knew," Piers said. "Naturally, you were the correct choice for the job."
"Thanks for the compliment, but my arms are killing me," Garet said as he entered the building with his arms hanging limp at his side. "Do warn me the day before if you're planning something like this again."
Piers smiled. "All right. You will have twenty-four hours notice the next time I decide to move a mysterious tablet of stone across town."
If he was being sarcastic, he was doing a fine job of hiding it.
The interior of Kraden's house was certainly a sight to behold. There was only one wall that was clearly visible; the others had been covered by bookshelves that were almost completely filled with books. It was certainly a scholar's paradise, and you just might say that Kraden's little home was the largest collection of information in all of Weyard, though you never would have guessed it from the outside.
Ivan was sitting at a table, his thoughts deeply immersed into a book that he was reading. That was pretty much how he spent his days now, on a vendetta of knowledge. He didn't even notice his friends' arrival until Garet sneaked up behind and grabbed his shoulders abruptly.
"Yikes!" he exclaimed as he almost sprung out of his seat. "Garet, don't scare me like that!"
"What are you reading there?" Garet said with a chuckle. "You seem to be quite interested in it."
"This? Oh, it's nothing really. Just an old book about how to forge weapons," Ivan replied as he opened the book again.
"Sounds cool," Garet said, not really that sincere. He would much rather go and forge the weapon himself rather than sitting around reading about how to do it. That's just the kind of person that he was, more hands-on. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to know where Kraden is, would you?" he added.
Ivan thought about it for a second. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen him for about an hour now. He went into his room looking at something and he hasn't come out since."
Piers was already at the door to Kraden's door. "Hello? Kraden, are you in there?" he said as he knocked on the door.
"I doubt he'll hear you," Felix said from beside him. "If he goes in there and the door's closed then it means that he's doing something important."
Just then, the door opened to greet the two friends. "Why, hello Piers! What are you doing here at this time of the day? Don't you have errands to run?" the aged face of Kraden said.
Piers shook his head. "Not today, the townsfolk are all resting today," he said. "The festival is only a week away, you know."
"Ah, that's right!" Kraden said, suddenly reminded. "I really must be getting those lighting ideas to the mayor soon then…" he added.
"Anyway, we were wondering whether you could take a look at a mysterious artifact that I found earlier," Piers said.
Kraden's eyes lit up like a child with a new toy. "The two things I adore, mysteries and artifacts! Of course I'll look at it! So where is it?" he said, looking eagerly around the house as if searching for a present.
"Over there, on the table," Piers said, pointing to the tablet that Garet had placed on the reading table. "Where Garet and Ivan are."
"Oh, Garet's here as well, is he?" Kraden said as he descended the staircase that led up to his room.
"He was the one who helped me carry it here," Piers said.
"Why didn't you call me? I could have given you a hand as well," Felix piped in from the side.
Piers cracked a smile. "You seem to be busy here, so I didn't want to disturb you."
Felix shrugged his shoulders. "Not today, all I've done is sharpen my sword," he said, motioning towards a table at the opposite side of the house. On that table was the Sol Blade, glimmering brightly as if it had just been forged.
"So, let's see it already," Kraden said as he walked over to the tablet, his pace quickening with each step.
"Hey, Kraden," Garet said as he greeted his old friend.
"Hello, Garet," Kraden replied. "No babysitting today?"
Garet shook his head. "Dad's got a few days off before the festival, so I get the whole day to myself for that time."
"I see," Kraden said. "Well then, let's see what we have here," he added as he sat down in a nearby chair and grabbed a nearby magnifying glass.
"Here's what we've got so far," Piers said as he and Felix sat down around the table as well. "These patterns appear to depict an image of some sort. Here we have a picture of an Adept, with the four elements of Alchemy around him. And over here, we have a picture of a variety of wild creatures," he said as he pointed out his earlier observations.
Kraden nodded. "It seems that you are correct there, Piers," he said. "But these aren't your ordinary wild monsters. The creatures depicted here seem to be a special breed, of which I can't quite remember the name of at the moment."
He promptly stood up and walked over to one of the many bookcases that streamed along the walls of his house. After searching for a while, he pulled out a book, which was aged and dusty, but still in fairly good condition. Kraden put the book down on the table and began to flip through it, and after a while he found what he was looking for.
"Ah! Here it is, just as I had guessed!" he said, pointing to the page of that he had stopped on.
Everybody leaned in to take a look. On the page was a collection of pictures, which depicted monsters as well. After closer examination, it became obvious that those monsters were definitely the same as those found on the tablet.
"They're the same!" Ivan said. "But we still don't know what they are…"
"These are the legendary beasts of Antiga," Kraden said matter-of-factly. "They are merely myths within our civilization today, a legend passed down between scholars."
"So… what's the story behind these things?" Garet asked.
Kraden assumed a thoughtful position, sort of like a father telling his children a story. "The legend of Antiga tells of an ancient civilization, one of which holds even more mysteries than that of Lemuria."
The three Adepts had only heard one sentence, but the combination of a mystery and Kraden's storytelling abilities had already drawn them in. "So don't keep us in suspense, go on," Piers said eagerly.
"The people of Antiga did not rely on the power of human nor Alchemy," Kraden continued. "Instead, they used the powers of the beasts around them to maintain their lifestyle. This seems very strange to us right now, since it's hard to imagine us working with the monsters that we find in the wild today," he added with a chuckle.
"Anyway, the legend goes on to say that as the beasts continued to develop under the care of the Antigans, they developed mystical powers of their own, not unlike the Psynergy that we use. Unlike us, however, the magic that they used had a mind of its own. These six beasts are merely an example of the many found in Antiga."
"What do you mean by that?" Ivan asked.
"Supposedly, the Antigan people had to bond with the beast's spirit to unleash its full potential, not unlike what you do with your Djinn," Kraden answered.
"So, if they were that powerful and all, what happened to them?" Felix asked.
"Excellent question, I was just getting to that," Kraden said. "The legend says that when the power of Alchemy was sealed away, the beasts of Antiga lost their powers and gradually died away. Without the powers of their tamed beasts to assist them, the Antigans died away as well. All that remains of them is this legend."
"It sounds real enough to me. Why is it just a legend?" Garet asked.
"No hard scientific evidence has been found that Antiga has ever existed," Kraden answered. "All we have are artifacts like these to work with, and that's how the legend was created."
Kraden pointed to the tablet. "You'll notice that there are three creatures on this tablet. Now compare them with the ones in the book."
"Hmm, but the book's picture has six creatures in it," Piers said.
"My theory is that there is another tablet exactly like the one that you have unearthed hidden somewhere. If my theory proves correct, that tablet will depict the other three beasts," Kraden said as he nodded periodically.
"But we still don't know what this picture means," Garet said, pointing to the lone picture on the corner of the tablet.
Kraden took out his magnifying glass. "Well then, let's take a look, shall we?" he said as he examined the pattern in question. After a while, he burst out laughing.
This came as quite a surprise to the others. "What's so funny?" Felix asked.
"This is not a picture at all, Garet!" Kraden said. "If you look closely, it is actually an inscription that has been carved into the stone. The way that it was carved creates the illusion that it actually is a drawing of some sort."
"What?" Garet exclaimed. "Here, let me take a look," he said as he took the magnifying glass from Kraden and began to examine the corner.
It turned out that Kraden had been right after all. There were runes written in every which direction, so small and microscopic that the naked eye wouldn't have noticed it at all. "Whoa, you're right…" Garet said as his eyes widened. "But how are we supposed to read it?"
"Elementary, my boy," Kraden said as he took back the magnifying glass. "If you look to the side, you'll notice that some arrows have also been carved in. I think that if we follow those, we'll be able to decipher the message inscribed on this tablet."
"Can you read it now?" Piers said, barely able to contain his excitement.
"Not offhand, but given a bit of time I can," Kraden said. "With all these resources at my disposal, there isn't a single language in all of Weyard that I won't be able to read," he added proudly.
"Hmm, then I guess we should leave the tablet here, then?" Garet asked.
Kraden nodded. "There's no use in hauling it away only to bring it back later. Besides, I've got plenty of room here."
Garet breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness I don't have to move it back," he thought. "It'll be days before my arms can feel normal again."
"Hey, you guys, it's getting dark," Ivan observed as he looked outside the window. With all the excitement of trying to figure out the mysterious tablet's meaning, the group had lost track of time in the process. "You think we should be going soon?" he asked Piers.
Piers nodded. "It will be a bit more difficult to head home if it gets too dark, so we should leave before that happens."
"Oh, damn!" Garet said as he slapped his forehead. "I forgot to tell you that Jenna wants you home by dinner," he said, turning to Felix with a sheepish look on his face.
"Hmm, if I go now I should be able to make it before then," Felix said thoughtfully. "I guess I'll be leaving then," he said as he picked up the Sol Blade off the other table. "Goodbye!"
"Hey wait, I'll come with you! My place is on the way," Garet said as he ran to the door as well. "See you later, guys!" he called as he closed the door behind him.
There was a time when I would have made no such offer to Felix. After all, he was once an ally of Saturos and Menardi. However, ever since our run-in at Jupiter Lighthouse, he doesn't really seem like such a bad guy. It was him that stepped in just as Agatio was about to deliver a final blow to Isaac, and it was him that eventually defeated both Agatio and Karst at the top of the lighthouse.
I guess it was then that we all realized that Felix was fighting with us, and not against us. It was just as well, we really wouldn't have been able to climb the Mars Lighthouse and defeat the Doom Dragon without his help.
"So, how have you been lately, Garet?" Felix asked as the two friends walked along the road back to town. The sun was setting, and there was no one else around except for them, as most families were already in their own homes preparing the night meal.
Garet shrugged. "All right, I guess. Watching siblings sometimes, training some other times, you know how it is."
Felix laughed. "Well, not really. Jenna's big enough to take care of herself, so I'm free to do as I wish most of the time."
"So you spend all your time at Kraden's?" Garet asked with a stifled snicker.
Felix nodded. "He really has quite a bit of things stored in that house of his. Not to mention a lot of fascinating books and artifacts."
Now it was Garet's turn to laugh. "You know, you're starting to become just like Ivan. Always reading and trying to become smarter."
"Perhaps. But it's a better use of time than simply sitting around doing nothing," Felix replied.
Suddenly, Garet heard a noise from behind them that sounded like footsteps. He turned around to see what it was, but there was nothing except the traces of his steps.
"What is it?" Felix asked.
"Thought I heard something…" Garet said. "Oh well, maybe I'm just a bit tired."
Then he heard it again. He spun around quickly, and yet there was still nothing. "Okay, I definitely heard something this time," he said. "Come out! I know you're there!" he yelled.
Nobody answered. "Perhaps it would be wise to quicken our pace a bit," Felix said cautiously.
Garet was still scanning the area, his eyes darting back and forth quickly. "Yeah," he said finally. "Let's go."
Just then, a brilliant light erupted from a patch of trees in front of them. The two had barely any time to react as a golden beam came out of the woods and homed in on their position.
"Down!" Garet yelled as he and Felix both dove to the ground instinctively. If not for their vigorous combat training, they would never have been able to dodge it. The beam zoomed right over their heads and dissipated behind them, its power drained.
The two boys jumped back on their feet and prepared for battle. Felix unsheathed the Sol Blade, and Garet assumed a battle stance. "Okay, where are you…?" Garet said as the two stayed motionless, not moving an inch.
Garet caught a flash of movement on his right side, but his discovery was short-lived when someone or something suddenly slammed into his left side with the force of a bull, sending him flying through the air.
"Garet!" Felix cried as he spun around. Just then, another figure leaped out from the trees and charged at him. Felix turned back around just in time to block a knife thrust with his sword.
Garet was pretty shaken up as he slowly returned to his feet, but his senses seemed to be in one piece. "Where is he? Where is he hiding?" he said, his frustration clearly showing.
"Right here," a voice said. A robed figure materialized right in front of Garet, holding a rod in its right hand which was right at the side of his throat. It was wearing a hood that concealed its head. "Don't move, and nobody gets hurt."
Garet was clearly surprised, but he wasn't shaken quite yet. "And what if I do?" he said, as he began channeling Psynergy through his body down to his hands. "Liquifier!" he cried as he thrust his palms forward straight at his assailant, firing several orange beams from them.
The impact was almost instantaneous, as his attack had been at a point-blank range. "How do you like that?" he said as his breathing became heavy. A thick cloud of smoke had blanketed the area around him, and sparks of red energy were visible on the ground.
"How unimpressive," the same voice said, from behind him this time. "Your combat skills are obviously in need of refinement."
"What the…?" Garet began as he turned around. He was cut off as the mystery assailant dealt a swift blow to the side of his neck. He fell to the ground, completely unconscious.
"Maybe you shouldn't be so cocky next time, little boy," the figure said as it caught his body and laid down on the ground. "And don't always be so sure that it's a 'he'."
On the other side of the path, Felix was still engaged in a clash of blades with another robed enemy. Though his adversary's blade mastery was impressive, it appeared that he had the upper hand.
"You picked a fight with the wrong guy," Felix said. "Now it's time to take you down. Megiddo!"
He charged straight forward at his opponent as the Sol Blade began to glow furiously. He swung it in a circle above his head and then he swung it downwards with all his might, unleashing the sword's full power.
"Not so fast," the robed figure said. "Chain of Vengeance!" he cried as he launched a rope of black energy at Felix. The makeshift chain surrounded him and tied him up, completely stopping his attack.
"What…?" Felix grunted as he felt the energy chain tightening around his body. "How did you…?"
"Now who's laughing?" the figure said with an evil chuckle. He walked up to Felix's disabled body and held up his palm, revealing a ball of black energy. "Watch carefully, I'm only going to do this once," he said. The mysterious figure shot the ball right at Felix, detonating the sphere point-blank.
Felix collapsed to the ground, his body having taken all the punishment that it could handle. "You…" he said weakly. "What do you want with us?"
The robed figure sneered at him. "Let's just say that we're on our way to pick up something that belongs to us."
Felix's eyes went wide as he tried desperately to move his damaged body. "The tablet… you're after the tablet!"
The figure smiled as he walked over to where Felix lay. "This sword is too good for the likes of you," the figure said as he picked up the Sol Blade. "How you got your hands on something this nice is a mystery to me.
"No… give that back…" Felix said as he tried to get back up. It was no use, however. His body was spent, and the ground beneath him was stained with his blood.
The figure dropped the sword back to the ground. "Pathetic weakling," he said, casting a final look at Felix. "I guess you'll need all the help that you can get."
The other hooded figure who had dealt with Garet came up beside him. "Come on, we should go now."
The first figure nodded. "Until we meet again, weakling," he said as the two of them walked away, fading into the darkness.
"You… Come back…" Felix said. That sapped away what remained of his strength, however. He collapsed to the ground, as his vision went black.
To Be Continued…
