Disclaimer: Please read it on chapter 1. I'm not up to writing it again;
perhaps I'm just lazy.
All of you guys who reviewed, THANK YOU!. Honestly, I didn't think I'd get any at all, bad or good. Keep 'em coming and enjoy the chapter.
Chapter 2:
Gathering
Night came and both warriors had a restless sleep. Once again, sunlight flitted through the windows. Neraine awoke from his sleep, cleaned up, walked out of his house and headed towards Jane's.
It was a nice stroll. All the homes in Madain Sari were large and made out of bricks. Some of them, though, were cut into cliff sides. Most of the shops were made like that. Neraine's house was right next to the upper portion of the waterfall. A large balcony opened up to the Buyano Shores.
Neraine made his way up a hill and spotted Leon in the distance, thrusting his blade in all directions. He used a long sword with a curved edge that was circled by another edge. Neraine ran up to him and said, "What the hell are you doing?"
"What do you think I'm doing?"
"Hmmm...I'm not sure. Wasn't it called schizophrenia?"
"No, you idiot! I'm training for out fight...though, I still don't know why I have to."
"Heh! Funny!", Neraine started to draw his blade. "Well, you look really stupid fighting thin air. I'll spar with you!"
"Hmm", Leon said, cocking his brow. "I don't wan to hurt you before the tournament..."
"Ha!", Neraine slid into his battle pose and brandished his blade. "Let's go!"
That's all Leon needed. He leapt up and brought his blade down. Neraine dashed out of the way and made a back-flip into the air. He rushed at Leon, as soon as he landed. Leon met his attack with his own, and both held on to their blades, each trying to force the other back. He soon grew weary, though, and whirled around, spin kicking Neraine in the chest. Neraine flew back and landed barely on his feet, looking winded.
"Hmph, that's all?", Leon gloated. "Somehow, I expected more."
"Heh...I'll admit, that's you're better than I expected", Neraine said, trying to catch his breath, "but I've only just started to warm up!"
"Ha! Let's see it then!" Neraine jumped into the air and brought his down, just like Leon. Leon brought his blade up, calmly, in a defensive pose, but was astonished when his opponent switched his position in mid flight and aimed his foot at the blade. Neraine landed gracefully on the sword, but Leon thrusted it upwards, tossing him off. Expecting this, Neraine flipped forwards, slashing at Leon's back, drawing blood, as he fell. He cried out in pain. Filled with rage, he swung his blade around before Neraine landed, scoring a hit directly on his left arm.
"ARRHH!!! FUCK!!", swearing loudly, he held his arm, trying to make it stop bleeding.
"Heh...heh. Is that...the best you can do?", Leon was panting; there was blood seeping at the wound in his back, but it was only a scratch.
"No...not quite", dragging himself up, Neraine shook his arm, which had stopped bleeding. "THIS IS!" He began to do a cartwheel, and then flipped up (A/N: Think Spiral Cut), positioning his blade. At the peak of his jump, his blade started to glow blue. Water started to swirl around it. Leon's eyes began squint as a neon light blinded him. It flashed through the valley, illuminating the tiniest crevices in the cliff. Then Nerain yelled, "DRIVE", and came down with a furious roar.
Just in the nick of time, Leon dashed out of the way, but not unharmed. He was drenched and his coat was sliced down the side. Blood was seeping from a gash behind his coat.
"Heh...how'd you...like my attack?", Neraine asked, incapacitated from his own attack. Leon wasn't panting. His eyes were glazed over, as if he was in deep thought. Suddenly, he started laughing, a laugh that sounded like he knew something Neraine didn't.
"Ha, ha, ha... You're a fool, Neraine. You've just shown me what your eidolon is."
"Wha-?", Neraine shook his head in disbelief. But then... "Ahh! It true! But wait! I thought your attacks didn't have to be derived from your eidolons?!"
"Not your first one. That one is always directly linked to your first eidolon." Leon stopped laughing and his face became serious. "But, that attack...no, it can't be! That was a water attack...no?"
"Yeah, it was...!", Neraine's face lit up in excitement. "So, my eidolon is a water eidolon! But...what eidolon uses water?!"
"Heh...you forgot all ready?", Leon said, getting up with a smirk on his face. "Well, that's okay. Not many people know about this eidolon. The only reason I know is that I read up on it."
"Geez...but, why doesn't anybody know about it? Didn't they teach it in class?"
"No, and that is because no one thought it could be summoned", this statement just suceeded in further confusing Neraine. Leon's face was filled with half jealousy, half amazement. "Neraine...you have been born with an eidolon...which has never beem summoned before."
An old man was pacing around an airship. It's that dream again...no, wait. This one is different. It was, indeed, the same old man, and the same airship, but the scene was different.
The man looked restless, almost excited. He was walking in a large chamber, which looked like a conference hall. The ceiling and the floor were a shiny blue and there was a hum coming from somewhere. A sort of thrumming sound. The circular room had wide windows. Standingng at them, you could see the clouds below and the sky above.
The old man was at one side of the chamber when a door opened at the other. In stepped a boy carrying a large, long case. He had long, blond hair which was let down loose to around shoulder length. He was wearing a dark cloak about him, which had a red circle in the middle. The most peculiar thing about the boy was a prehensile tail, poking out behind his cloak. It was up in the air, looking as if it had a mind of its own.
The boy began walking towards the old man, his facial expression blank, blue eyes oddly glazed over.
As soon as the boy had entered, the old man had raised his to the windows around him and had muttered under his breath, "Close..." Circular shutters covered the windows and a series of lights turned on above.
"I have brought it, Lord Garland."
"Good work, Beta-16" Beta-16....? He took the case up in his arms and started admiring it.
"Begging your pardon, my Lord", the boy had turned his face to Garland, "but may I ask what you need it for?" Garland turned his head sharply towards the boy, his eyes glinting. "I wasn't aware that these things were supposed to hold any interest in you...."
"Yes, my lord, but...", the boy's eyes seemed too focus, as if he was waking from a trance, "...I suddenly feel the urge to know; I can't explain it..." The sharpe look had disappeared from Garland's eye, replacing his face with a gracious smile.
"Of course...if you must know, weeks ago I felt the re-kindling of an old flame. The brother sword has been found again, Silveras..
"It was a blade created by the Crystal to be used by the summoner tribe in times of trouble. Soon after, I had forged another blade to counter it. While Silveras, with the power of the Crystal, would summon the supreme guardian of Gaia, this blade would summon the supreme guardian of Terra. But due to unfortunate circumstances, I was unable to acquire the Crystal last time.", he took a sharp intake of breath, "I must find someone."
"But who would take on such a task?", asked the boy curiously. Garland smiled again and said," I will find someone. This world houses many weaklings that would do anything for a bit of power."
"But-"
"Silence!", Garland said, annoyed. "Stop asking questions and let me gaze at its beauty." He kneeled, and unhooked the clasp on the lid. "Ahh, Ilendran." The case had revealed a long hooked blade with a scarlet coating. It had four hollows and a silver edge. Garland look coldly over the blade at the boy and said, "You are dismissed."
The boy turned reluctantly to go when a voice called out againe. "Hold on, my boy. I have something I want to demonstrate. " The boy turned around and found the blade pressed to his chin. "M-master...?", the boy squeaked, meekly.
"You're quite interested in these matters, aren't you?"
"N-no! Master, p-please!"
"Do you want to know how sharp this blade is?", Garland didn't give him a chance to answer. He raised the blade and swung it savagely at the boy. Just as the blade hit the skin of the shrieking boy, there was a blue flash of light and then...nothing.
For the second time in two days, Jane woke up with a start. But this time, she was screaming. She had started when the man had raised the blade and had only stopped now. Her entire body was drenched in sweat and her nightgown was sticking to her skin. She had woken because of the blue light that had flashed into her room a moment ago. Panting, she sat up and put her head in her hands, thinking about the dream. It had been so real...but it couldn't have been. He was talking about Silveras, though. And then he had killed that boy. He had ripped him.... Shuddering, she shook the thought out of her mind. No, it coudn't have been real. It wasn't. I should just forget it...
Jane walked to her shutters again and threw them open. Looking at the clear azure sky, calmed her, washing away that strange dream. Why am I having them? She wanted to talk to the Eldar today. She had to. Yesterday, she had been too caught up, but today she had to.
Jane was about to turn and wash herself when she heard someone laughing. Garland?! No...don't be silly. It was just Leon. He was sitting there with Neraine.
Neraine was doubled over, leaning on his sword, while Leon was sprawled on the floor, his clothes drenched and oddly ripped. They both had wounds that were bleeding.
Jane sighed. They'd been fighting again. From time to time, Neraine and Leon would start fighting. But to this day, she never had known why. When she asked, the would say it was to stretch their muscles. Obviously, this wasn't it. Jane had always been there to stop them but come tournament time, she wouldn't be able to. The two seemed to have stopped fighting, having started to talk about something. Jane quickly disrobed, washed up, pulled something on and dashed out the door, grabing two books off the table. She stopped outside, looking around, spotting the guys in the distance.
"What are you talking about?", Neraine asked, looking genuinely confused. "All the eidolons have been summoned before!"
"Except this one.", Leon said, his eyes narrowed. "It was in the book. The last time someone tried to summon it...he died."
"Why? It couldn't have been that powerfull...", suddenly, a look of fear crossd Neraine's face. "Hey, I'll admit I'm strong. But... what if this thing kills me?"
"No...you were born with it. You were- oh SHIT!"
"What?" Leon had fallen to the ground, clutching his side. "What- what kind of at-attack was tha-that?!", Leon stuttered, wincing.
"Oh, ha, ha...", scratching the back of his head, Neraine laughed. "I know it was a water attack. Hehe..." Leon was to snap at him when he heard a voice calling them. "Neraine! Leon!", Jane appeared from the village, running towards them.
"Uh, oh...", muttered Neraine. She came up to them, caught her breath, and asked, "Have you two been fighting again?"
"No, no. Of course not!", Neraine said, stepping in front of Leon's face.
"Then why is he on the floor?"
"OH! He's having erectile difficulties-"
"Sha-shaddup, ass-asshole!", Leon stammered.
He tried to get up, failed, then flopped back down. Jane bent down and put her hand on Leon's sweaty forehead, closing her eyes. Neraine bent down, too, for a closer inspection.
Jane muttered something and Leon started to emit a light blue aura.
"Whoa!", Neraine exclaimed, leaning in for a better view. "What's that?"
"I'm using scan on him...one of the new spells I learned.", replied Jane, eyes still closed. "...Heh. Whatever you did to him, it sure is hard to figure out...there! He's paralyzed!"
"G-gee! Ya th-think?!", stuttered Leon, apparently annoyed. "How do you get rid of it? Can you cure it?"
"Sure! Who do you think I am?", Jane stood up and took out her wand. "I've been looking for someone to test this spell on." The guys looked on in amazement as Jane did a small dance and brought her glowing wand down on Leon. He was even more surprised when he found his limbs loose, being able to sit up.
"Wow!", Leon said standing up, cracking his neck. "That was Esuna, wasn't it?'
"Yes. I took a book on white magic spells out of the library. Most of them were a little too advanced. I picked the out the ones that I thought would be useful."
"But , that's a really advanced spell-!", Neraine was cut short as Jane fell to the floor, out of breath.
"Jane!", Neraine quickly swooped down and caught her from falling. Her eyes were fluttering, a small smile playing across her lips. "Yes, it was an advanced spell. I think I've overdone myself."
"Let's get her to her house", Neraine said, his voice full of concern. Leon scooped Jane up in his arms and started off in the direction of her house. He felt a pang of guilt at his own feeble resistence to Neraine's attack. But, he thought, smiling, that was one hell of an attack.
All of you guys who reviewed, THANK YOU!. Honestly, I didn't think I'd get any at all, bad or good. Keep 'em coming and enjoy the chapter.
Chapter 2:
Gathering
Night came and both warriors had a restless sleep. Once again, sunlight flitted through the windows. Neraine awoke from his sleep, cleaned up, walked out of his house and headed towards Jane's.
It was a nice stroll. All the homes in Madain Sari were large and made out of bricks. Some of them, though, were cut into cliff sides. Most of the shops were made like that. Neraine's house was right next to the upper portion of the waterfall. A large balcony opened up to the Buyano Shores.
Neraine made his way up a hill and spotted Leon in the distance, thrusting his blade in all directions. He used a long sword with a curved edge that was circled by another edge. Neraine ran up to him and said, "What the hell are you doing?"
"What do you think I'm doing?"
"Hmmm...I'm not sure. Wasn't it called schizophrenia?"
"No, you idiot! I'm training for out fight...though, I still don't know why I have to."
"Heh! Funny!", Neraine started to draw his blade. "Well, you look really stupid fighting thin air. I'll spar with you!"
"Hmm", Leon said, cocking his brow. "I don't wan to hurt you before the tournament..."
"Ha!", Neraine slid into his battle pose and brandished his blade. "Let's go!"
That's all Leon needed. He leapt up and brought his blade down. Neraine dashed out of the way and made a back-flip into the air. He rushed at Leon, as soon as he landed. Leon met his attack with his own, and both held on to their blades, each trying to force the other back. He soon grew weary, though, and whirled around, spin kicking Neraine in the chest. Neraine flew back and landed barely on his feet, looking winded.
"Hmph, that's all?", Leon gloated. "Somehow, I expected more."
"Heh...I'll admit, that's you're better than I expected", Neraine said, trying to catch his breath, "but I've only just started to warm up!"
"Ha! Let's see it then!" Neraine jumped into the air and brought his down, just like Leon. Leon brought his blade up, calmly, in a defensive pose, but was astonished when his opponent switched his position in mid flight and aimed his foot at the blade. Neraine landed gracefully on the sword, but Leon thrusted it upwards, tossing him off. Expecting this, Neraine flipped forwards, slashing at Leon's back, drawing blood, as he fell. He cried out in pain. Filled with rage, he swung his blade around before Neraine landed, scoring a hit directly on his left arm.
"ARRHH!!! FUCK!!", swearing loudly, he held his arm, trying to make it stop bleeding.
"Heh...heh. Is that...the best you can do?", Leon was panting; there was blood seeping at the wound in his back, but it was only a scratch.
"No...not quite", dragging himself up, Neraine shook his arm, which had stopped bleeding. "THIS IS!" He began to do a cartwheel, and then flipped up (A/N: Think Spiral Cut), positioning his blade. At the peak of his jump, his blade started to glow blue. Water started to swirl around it. Leon's eyes began squint as a neon light blinded him. It flashed through the valley, illuminating the tiniest crevices in the cliff. Then Nerain yelled, "DRIVE", and came down with a furious roar.
Just in the nick of time, Leon dashed out of the way, but not unharmed. He was drenched and his coat was sliced down the side. Blood was seeping from a gash behind his coat.
"Heh...how'd you...like my attack?", Neraine asked, incapacitated from his own attack. Leon wasn't panting. His eyes were glazed over, as if he was in deep thought. Suddenly, he started laughing, a laugh that sounded like he knew something Neraine didn't.
"Ha, ha, ha... You're a fool, Neraine. You've just shown me what your eidolon is."
"Wha-?", Neraine shook his head in disbelief. But then... "Ahh! It true! But wait! I thought your attacks didn't have to be derived from your eidolons?!"
"Not your first one. That one is always directly linked to your first eidolon." Leon stopped laughing and his face became serious. "But, that attack...no, it can't be! That was a water attack...no?"
"Yeah, it was...!", Neraine's face lit up in excitement. "So, my eidolon is a water eidolon! But...what eidolon uses water?!"
"Heh...you forgot all ready?", Leon said, getting up with a smirk on his face. "Well, that's okay. Not many people know about this eidolon. The only reason I know is that I read up on it."
"Geez...but, why doesn't anybody know about it? Didn't they teach it in class?"
"No, and that is because no one thought it could be summoned", this statement just suceeded in further confusing Neraine. Leon's face was filled with half jealousy, half amazement. "Neraine...you have been born with an eidolon...which has never beem summoned before."
An old man was pacing around an airship. It's that dream again...no, wait. This one is different. It was, indeed, the same old man, and the same airship, but the scene was different.
The man looked restless, almost excited. He was walking in a large chamber, which looked like a conference hall. The ceiling and the floor were a shiny blue and there was a hum coming from somewhere. A sort of thrumming sound. The circular room had wide windows. Standingng at them, you could see the clouds below and the sky above.
The old man was at one side of the chamber when a door opened at the other. In stepped a boy carrying a large, long case. He had long, blond hair which was let down loose to around shoulder length. He was wearing a dark cloak about him, which had a red circle in the middle. The most peculiar thing about the boy was a prehensile tail, poking out behind his cloak. It was up in the air, looking as if it had a mind of its own.
The boy began walking towards the old man, his facial expression blank, blue eyes oddly glazed over.
As soon as the boy had entered, the old man had raised his to the windows around him and had muttered under his breath, "Close..." Circular shutters covered the windows and a series of lights turned on above.
"I have brought it, Lord Garland."
"Good work, Beta-16" Beta-16....? He took the case up in his arms and started admiring it.
"Begging your pardon, my Lord", the boy had turned his face to Garland, "but may I ask what you need it for?" Garland turned his head sharply towards the boy, his eyes glinting. "I wasn't aware that these things were supposed to hold any interest in you...."
"Yes, my lord, but...", the boy's eyes seemed too focus, as if he was waking from a trance, "...I suddenly feel the urge to know; I can't explain it..." The sharpe look had disappeared from Garland's eye, replacing his face with a gracious smile.
"Of course...if you must know, weeks ago I felt the re-kindling of an old flame. The brother sword has been found again, Silveras..
"It was a blade created by the Crystal to be used by the summoner tribe in times of trouble. Soon after, I had forged another blade to counter it. While Silveras, with the power of the Crystal, would summon the supreme guardian of Gaia, this blade would summon the supreme guardian of Terra. But due to unfortunate circumstances, I was unable to acquire the Crystal last time.", he took a sharp intake of breath, "I must find someone."
"But who would take on such a task?", asked the boy curiously. Garland smiled again and said," I will find someone. This world houses many weaklings that would do anything for a bit of power."
"But-"
"Silence!", Garland said, annoyed. "Stop asking questions and let me gaze at its beauty." He kneeled, and unhooked the clasp on the lid. "Ahh, Ilendran." The case had revealed a long hooked blade with a scarlet coating. It had four hollows and a silver edge. Garland look coldly over the blade at the boy and said, "You are dismissed."
The boy turned reluctantly to go when a voice called out againe. "Hold on, my boy. I have something I want to demonstrate. " The boy turned around and found the blade pressed to his chin. "M-master...?", the boy squeaked, meekly.
"You're quite interested in these matters, aren't you?"
"N-no! Master, p-please!"
"Do you want to know how sharp this blade is?", Garland didn't give him a chance to answer. He raised the blade and swung it savagely at the boy. Just as the blade hit the skin of the shrieking boy, there was a blue flash of light and then...nothing.
For the second time in two days, Jane woke up with a start. But this time, she was screaming. She had started when the man had raised the blade and had only stopped now. Her entire body was drenched in sweat and her nightgown was sticking to her skin. She had woken because of the blue light that had flashed into her room a moment ago. Panting, she sat up and put her head in her hands, thinking about the dream. It had been so real...but it couldn't have been. He was talking about Silveras, though. And then he had killed that boy. He had ripped him.... Shuddering, she shook the thought out of her mind. No, it coudn't have been real. It wasn't. I should just forget it...
Jane walked to her shutters again and threw them open. Looking at the clear azure sky, calmed her, washing away that strange dream. Why am I having them? She wanted to talk to the Eldar today. She had to. Yesterday, she had been too caught up, but today she had to.
Jane was about to turn and wash herself when she heard someone laughing. Garland?! No...don't be silly. It was just Leon. He was sitting there with Neraine.
Neraine was doubled over, leaning on his sword, while Leon was sprawled on the floor, his clothes drenched and oddly ripped. They both had wounds that were bleeding.
Jane sighed. They'd been fighting again. From time to time, Neraine and Leon would start fighting. But to this day, she never had known why. When she asked, the would say it was to stretch their muscles. Obviously, this wasn't it. Jane had always been there to stop them but come tournament time, she wouldn't be able to. The two seemed to have stopped fighting, having started to talk about something. Jane quickly disrobed, washed up, pulled something on and dashed out the door, grabing two books off the table. She stopped outside, looking around, spotting the guys in the distance.
"What are you talking about?", Neraine asked, looking genuinely confused. "All the eidolons have been summoned before!"
"Except this one.", Leon said, his eyes narrowed. "It was in the book. The last time someone tried to summon it...he died."
"Why? It couldn't have been that powerfull...", suddenly, a look of fear crossd Neraine's face. "Hey, I'll admit I'm strong. But... what if this thing kills me?"
"No...you were born with it. You were- oh SHIT!"
"What?" Leon had fallen to the ground, clutching his side. "What- what kind of at-attack was tha-that?!", Leon stuttered, wincing.
"Oh, ha, ha...", scratching the back of his head, Neraine laughed. "I know it was a water attack. Hehe..." Leon was to snap at him when he heard a voice calling them. "Neraine! Leon!", Jane appeared from the village, running towards them.
"Uh, oh...", muttered Neraine. She came up to them, caught her breath, and asked, "Have you two been fighting again?"
"No, no. Of course not!", Neraine said, stepping in front of Leon's face.
"Then why is he on the floor?"
"OH! He's having erectile difficulties-"
"Sha-shaddup, ass-asshole!", Leon stammered.
He tried to get up, failed, then flopped back down. Jane bent down and put her hand on Leon's sweaty forehead, closing her eyes. Neraine bent down, too, for a closer inspection.
Jane muttered something and Leon started to emit a light blue aura.
"Whoa!", Neraine exclaimed, leaning in for a better view. "What's that?"
"I'm using scan on him...one of the new spells I learned.", replied Jane, eyes still closed. "...Heh. Whatever you did to him, it sure is hard to figure out...there! He's paralyzed!"
"G-gee! Ya th-think?!", stuttered Leon, apparently annoyed. "How do you get rid of it? Can you cure it?"
"Sure! Who do you think I am?", Jane stood up and took out her wand. "I've been looking for someone to test this spell on." The guys looked on in amazement as Jane did a small dance and brought her glowing wand down on Leon. He was even more surprised when he found his limbs loose, being able to sit up.
"Wow!", Leon said standing up, cracking his neck. "That was Esuna, wasn't it?'
"Yes. I took a book on white magic spells out of the library. Most of them were a little too advanced. I picked the out the ones that I thought would be useful."
"But , that's a really advanced spell-!", Neraine was cut short as Jane fell to the floor, out of breath.
"Jane!", Neraine quickly swooped down and caught her from falling. Her eyes were fluttering, a small smile playing across her lips. "Yes, it was an advanced spell. I think I've overdone myself."
"Let's get her to her house", Neraine said, his voice full of concern. Leon scooped Jane up in his arms and started off in the direction of her house. He felt a pang of guilt at his own feeble resistence to Neraine's attack. But, he thought, smiling, that was one hell of an attack.
