A/N: Firstly, I would like to really thank all my reviewers, and
especially Straya, Dark Shadow, and Lady of Genesis for faithfully reading
and reviewing pretty much every chapter from the beginning so far. I
really and truly appreciate your positive feedback, you've been a great
source of encouragement! Straya, I especially enjoy your little analysis'
of each chapter, and saying what you liked and whatnot (That goes for my
other fics you reviewed as well) I just wanted to make a little mention.
Thanks!
Secondly, I'd just like to point out that I just write fanfictions to have fun with it. I know my story isn't 100% accurate in terms of characters and storyline, and although I try to keep everything within the realm of possibility, I don't care too much if it's a little out here and there because I'm having fun writing it. I'm hoping that that people are also having fun reading it. The bottom line is, although I appreciate constructive criticism for future references, I'm not much of a reviser (unless it's something really big), so anything not completely accurate will probably stay that way.
Another little sidenote... It was suggested that it is not realistic for Thomas and Cecile to have children by this point in time. I disagree. I believe that during Suikoden III, Thomas was 16 and Cecile was 13. This fic takes place 20 years later. That makes Thomas 36 and Cecile 33. They'd been married for nearly 14 years. Which means they'd been married since the ages of 22 and 19. Plenty of time to have two children. Sorry if I'm being painfully obvious with ages, I'm just not sure how it is unreasonable for them to have two kids by this point.
Lastly, I know I said this chapter would be called 'seal', but I changed it. Nothing big.
Wow, I gotta learn to keep these author's notes so that they aren't longer than my actual story! Haha! On with chapter seven!
______________________________
Chapter Seven - Results of Research
______________________________
"Doesn't look like he's here," Nash commented the next morning upon entering the library.
Chris, Thomas, and Cecile looked around the shelves of books for some sign of the odd librarian, but to no avail.
Cecile groaned. "I bet he's gone down to the basement again to read. Who knows when he'll come back?"
Thomas rubbed his chin. "We must help lady Chris and Nash any way we can! The Blue Moon Rune doesn't affect us directly, but if Yuber finds it, it will affect everyone. It could take hours, but you and I should go down and see if we can find him. "
Cecile nodded with a sigh, knowing her husband was right.
Chris took a book from the shelf and looked through it. "Very well. In the meantime, Nash and I can look through the shelves here and see if we can find anything of relevance. If Eike knows anything, it's because of something he's read in here, right?"
Thomas released a sigh. "I'm sorry that we haven't any options that are more reliable. We'll bring back Eike the moment we find him!"
Nash and Chris nodded, and the couple left them alone to search the library for clues.
******
Hours had passed since Thomas and Cecile left, and Chris and Nash had searched through the library in monotonous silence. They hadn't found a shred of information about the Moon Rune, and Chris, who sat at a desk surrounded by volumes and volumes of Budehuc texts, was discouraged and tired. She decided to momentarily stop sifting through books, and rested her elbows on the table while she leaned her forehead into her hands.
"You *still* haven't gotten through that stack?" Nash asked incredulously, peering around a bookshelf at her.
Chris jumped a little, as it was the first time either of them had spoken in nearly an hour. This was partially due to their tense encounter last night, and things now felt awkward between them.
However, now she glared up at him irritably, resisting the urge to throw a thick encyclopedia at his head.
"Don't start with me Nash, I know you've been staring at the same shelf of books for over an hour! If you haven't found anything, then keep quiet and keep looking."
Nash grunted. "There has got to be an easier way to find this book." He shook his head and leaned against the bookshelf. "For all we know, he might have been talking about something totally different. This is a complete shot in the dark!"
"We'll find it. We must!" Chris retorted, opening the first book in front of her to make it look like she meant it. Inside however, Chris agreed with Nash. This was hopeless.
Nash didn't move, and continued to stare at her. "Admit it Chris. We've hit a dead end."
Chris stood up abruptly, slamming her hands on the desk. "Are you serious about finding the True Rune or not? Stop being such a whiney pessimist and keep looking! This is our only lead until Thomas and Cecile can locate Eike." Her nerves were shot from hours of looking through books. She always had despised research.
"My my, we are touchy today," Nash muttered. "Are you still sulking because of that talk we had last night?"
Chris pointed at him angrily. "I thought you said you weren't going to bring that subject up anymore!?" She was a lot angrier than she should be, and she knew it. However, Nash always did have that efficient ability to push her over the edge in a matter of seconds.
"I said that under the assumption that you were going to be mature about it instead of sulking like a bratty little girl!" he retorted, and pointed back at her.
"How dare you!" She reached back and grabbed the thickest, heaviest book she could find off of the bookshelf and hurled it across the room at him.
However, much to her despair, he lifted a hand and caught it effortlessly. His eyes narrowed at her agitatedly, and he opened his mouth, most likely to hurl another insult at her.
But before a word could escape his lips, the room began to rumble, and the lights flickered out. The argument forgotten, the two stared at each other in bewildered silence as the rumbling intensified and the entire shelf where Chris had angrily grabbed the book shifted horizontally to reveal a dark hallway beyond it.
A full minute passed as they stared blankly at the passageway, uncertain of what had just happened.
Finally, Nash glanced down at the book he had caught, then to the passageway, and finally back at Chris. "Dare I say it, I think you've found something."
Chris blinked a couple more times, as she came to a realization. "I get it. Thomas thought Eike had been talking about a book he had read about the passageway to the Moon Rune, but in fact, Eike had been talking about the passageway itself!" She walked over to its entrance.
Nash shook his head disbelievingly. "The old 'book-acting-as-a-trigger-to- reveal-the-secret-passageway' trick. Who would have thought?"
"But... Why didn't Eike tell someone about this?" Chris wondered.
He shrugged. "Well, as I understand it, he always was the secretive sort. He probably figured that overall, it was safer to keep it to himself."
"But does it really lead to where Sierra sealed the Moon Rune?" Chris asked, peering down the dark passageway.
"There's only one way to find out," he answered, placing the book on a table and joining Chris at the entrance of the passageway.
They took a few cautious steps inside, looking down the dark hallway to see if they could determine where it led. Chris then stopped, and turned to Nash.
"Maybe we should wait for Thomas and Cecile."
But before Nash could reply, the bookshelf rumbled, and slid smoothly over the entrance, closing with a firm thud. He hurried back and felt around the back of the bookshelf that had closed them in.
"We can't get back out," he stated simply.
"What should we do?" she asked him, squinting to try and force her eyes to focus in the dark.
"What else can we do?" he replied, and begun walking forwards. "We find out where this hallway leads."
She nodded, and followed him through the dark passageway, although she was uncomfortable that she could not see what lay ahead of them due to the darkness.
They followed the narrow passageway for quite some time. For an hour they seemed to be descending, but then the next hour they were ascending. The two did not speak much during this time, but they made a habit of reaching out for each other from time to time to make sure the other was still close by.
Eventually, the passageway began to widen, and soon they could see a faint light indicating that they were very close to arriving on the other side.
"Look! What is that greenish light?" Chris pointed.
"I'm not sure. But we should be careful and make no noise. We don't know what lays beyond," Nash cautioned, but it was obvious that he was eager to get out the dingy passageway as much as she.
They eventually found themselves wandering out of a cave and into a fairly large clearing in a dense forest. The light was tinted green from filtering through the leaves of the trees that were so close together that they could not see the sky. In fact, the foliage surrounding the clearing was so thick, it would be near impossible to leave the area except through the way they had just come.
They didn't have to travel halfway into the clearing before they saw what they were looking for. They stopped dead in their tracks, staring at the sight before them.
It was large, circular, and dark blue in color. It seemed to be a mass of supernatural energy and it looked similar to the giant blue sphere in the Cyndar ruins where Chris had first attained the power of the True Water Rune.
"This must be it," Nash said suddenly.
Before either of them could do or say anything more, a terrible wind began to stir from seemingly nowhere. They both sheltered their eyes as a bright portal of light seemed to explode from the center of the clearing. Out of the portal came a massive monster.
Instantly, they could tell from the scaly skin, sharp teeth and claws, and long tail and snout that it was a dragon. It was bony and decrepit in appearance, but the way it roared at them made it clear there was no weakness to be had in this terrible creature. It also possessed two extraordinarily long fangs that were so big they showed even when its mouth was closed. It was these incisors that clearly identified what the dragon was. It was undead. A vampire dragon.
"Of course," Nash said hoarsely with a nod. "This is the test. Just like the fire dragon Hugo fought for the True Fire Rune and the water dragon you fought for the True Water Rune. Now I must face this vampire dragon for the Blue Moon Rune."
"How are we going to destroy it with just two of us?" Chris asked, drawing her sword, aware that the dragon was now approaching them in slow confident steps.
Nash unsheathed his two legendary swords and held them readily before him. "We'll have to wear it down before I can call upon the true power of the Grosser Fluss."
There was no more time for talk, for the dragon lunged at them, beginning a furious battle.
As the battle began, Chris was extremely impressed with how well the Harmonian handled the two swords. However, she did not immediately see what was so special about them. Nash parried the bloodthirsty dragon's attacks with relative ease, getting good slashes in here and there, but they did not seem to possess any such terrible power that he claimed it had.
Chris was also slashing mercilessly at the beast, striking it in several different spots, and drawing blood each time.
They carried out their strategy, attempting to slowly wear the dragon down, and by it's increasing limp and evident frustration, it appeared to be working.
However, the dragon made an unexpected move and whirled its massive tail around and made direct contact with Nash's head. He went flying backwards and collapsed to the ground with a thud.
Chris immediately ran towards him, uncaring that the extremely angered dragon was roaring and ready to rip apart anyone who came between him and the fresh blood. She dropped to his side taking a quick look to see what damage had been done.
If Nash had been human, the blow from the dragon's tail would have likely snapped his neck. However, vampires were extremely hard to kill and Chris was relieved to see that he was still very much alive, although unconscious.
She immediately closed her eyes and began to gather the True Water Rune's energy, feeling the glowing blue light swirl around her as she began muttering a restorative spell.
"Mother Ocean, please restore and heal," she muttered as a blue orb of water surrounded Nash, and a faint humming could be heard as Nash's wounds were healed within the sphere of water.
A great snarl game from the wounded, undead dragon, and Chris turned to see the demonic creature's jaws open and rushing towards her. With no time to dodge the attack, she squeezed her eyes shut and awaited the blow.
But it didn't come.
She opened her eyes to see Nash between her and the dragon, gritting his teeth, and his swords crossed in the middle where they had deflected the dragon's attack.
"Nash!"
"Thank you, Chris."
She scrambled to her feet and the two of them backed away a little.
"We need to find a way to keep it still while I unleash the power of Grosser Fluss," he said as the dragon, now thoroughly irritated at having been denied his lunch, came darting towards them.
"Cover me, I'm going to try something." Without waiting for a reply, Chris closed her eyes and began murmuring another spell, and was once again surrounded by blue energy from the Water Rune.
Nash kept the dragon away from Chris, attacking it and keeping it distracted.
There was an unnaturally cold wind, and the dragon stopped attacking, confused. Nash looked over at Chris uncertainly.
"Quick! Get away from the dragon, or you'll be hit too!"
He complied, and reached Chris' side just as several large icicles jutted from the ground, engulfing the dragon in the ice. The dragon struggled furiously, the ice cracking. The prison of ice would not hold him for long.
"Run for the passageway so I can use the Grosser Fluss."
"But Nash-"
"Remember, once I unleash its power, I won't be able to maintain control." He narrowed his eyes at the demon-dragon as he spoke. When Chris hesitated further, his eyes slid over to her and he grinned with a hint of sarcasm. "I know you're terribly worried about me, but rest assured, I've done this before."
Chris nodded and ran for the passageway.
The distracting large blocks of ice around the dragon finally shattered and went flying in all directions, as Nash held Grosser Fluss steady at his sides, focusing on his target.
What happened next was one of the most extraordinary things Chris had ever seen. Nash held the swords back, and then swung them forwards in a regular strike. However, by the time he had begun to swing down, the blades appeared elongated and flexible, a mass of pure energy, like lighting from the hilt. It erratically shot from the swords and into the dragon, and now that it was weakened by the earlier attacks, it didn't stand a chance.
In an instant, it had been completely demolished.
The next few moments passed with very little movement. Nash was bent over as he tried to catch his breath, and Chris, still slightly in awe by the power she'd just seen, waited in the cave, uncertain if she should approach him yet.
Finally, Nash straightened and turned back to Chris with a grin. "Chris! We won!"
She nodded and walked silently over to him, shooting subtle glances at the Grosser Fluss in his hands, which had reverted back to looking like two ordinary looking swords.
"I've never seen a weapon like that before. It totally obliterated that dragon!"
"Yes, but I think it was that ice attack saved our lives!" He sheathed the swords and cleared his throat. "Now, let's take a closer look at that," he said, pointing to the navy orb of energy.
She nodded again, and the two made their way towards what they knew to be the seal of the Moon Rune. They stopped a little ways before it, unsure of how to proceed.
"So, how exactly do we go about this?" he asked.
However, when he turned to look at her, he was startled to find Chris in a complete daze, her rune hand glowing and stretched out towards the sphere. He was momentarily confused. Were the runes connecting somehow? Was she releasing the seal?
"Chris?"
She tried to respond several times before being successful. "I can feel him. Someone else has been trying to protect the Moon Rune as well, Nash." Her eyes were wide, as though seeing something he could not.
"Who?"
Her voice was strained with emotion, and she barely whispered her single- word reply.
"Percival."
________________________________________________________________________
A/N: Finally Nashy whips out the Grosser Fluss and wrecks havoc! Okay okay, I know I can't really write action, and I really have no idea what happens when Nash used Grosser Fluss in Suikogaiden, but I did the best I could! ^_^ With every new chapter I post, I get more terrified that I'll start getting flames for making so much stuff up about the seals and the characters. I really am doing the best I can to make this relatively believable! Thanks for reading, as always. ^_^
Also, Eike fans, fear not! He will make an appearance in later chapters!
Next Chapter: 'Percival's Memory'
Secondly, I'd just like to point out that I just write fanfictions to have fun with it. I know my story isn't 100% accurate in terms of characters and storyline, and although I try to keep everything within the realm of possibility, I don't care too much if it's a little out here and there because I'm having fun writing it. I'm hoping that that people are also having fun reading it. The bottom line is, although I appreciate constructive criticism for future references, I'm not much of a reviser (unless it's something really big), so anything not completely accurate will probably stay that way.
Another little sidenote... It was suggested that it is not realistic for Thomas and Cecile to have children by this point in time. I disagree. I believe that during Suikoden III, Thomas was 16 and Cecile was 13. This fic takes place 20 years later. That makes Thomas 36 and Cecile 33. They'd been married for nearly 14 years. Which means they'd been married since the ages of 22 and 19. Plenty of time to have two children. Sorry if I'm being painfully obvious with ages, I'm just not sure how it is unreasonable for them to have two kids by this point.
Lastly, I know I said this chapter would be called 'seal', but I changed it. Nothing big.
Wow, I gotta learn to keep these author's notes so that they aren't longer than my actual story! Haha! On with chapter seven!
______________________________
Chapter Seven - Results of Research
______________________________
"Doesn't look like he's here," Nash commented the next morning upon entering the library.
Chris, Thomas, and Cecile looked around the shelves of books for some sign of the odd librarian, but to no avail.
Cecile groaned. "I bet he's gone down to the basement again to read. Who knows when he'll come back?"
Thomas rubbed his chin. "We must help lady Chris and Nash any way we can! The Blue Moon Rune doesn't affect us directly, but if Yuber finds it, it will affect everyone. It could take hours, but you and I should go down and see if we can find him. "
Cecile nodded with a sigh, knowing her husband was right.
Chris took a book from the shelf and looked through it. "Very well. In the meantime, Nash and I can look through the shelves here and see if we can find anything of relevance. If Eike knows anything, it's because of something he's read in here, right?"
Thomas released a sigh. "I'm sorry that we haven't any options that are more reliable. We'll bring back Eike the moment we find him!"
Nash and Chris nodded, and the couple left them alone to search the library for clues.
******
Hours had passed since Thomas and Cecile left, and Chris and Nash had searched through the library in monotonous silence. They hadn't found a shred of information about the Moon Rune, and Chris, who sat at a desk surrounded by volumes and volumes of Budehuc texts, was discouraged and tired. She decided to momentarily stop sifting through books, and rested her elbows on the table while she leaned her forehead into her hands.
"You *still* haven't gotten through that stack?" Nash asked incredulously, peering around a bookshelf at her.
Chris jumped a little, as it was the first time either of them had spoken in nearly an hour. This was partially due to their tense encounter last night, and things now felt awkward between them.
However, now she glared up at him irritably, resisting the urge to throw a thick encyclopedia at his head.
"Don't start with me Nash, I know you've been staring at the same shelf of books for over an hour! If you haven't found anything, then keep quiet and keep looking."
Nash grunted. "There has got to be an easier way to find this book." He shook his head and leaned against the bookshelf. "For all we know, he might have been talking about something totally different. This is a complete shot in the dark!"
"We'll find it. We must!" Chris retorted, opening the first book in front of her to make it look like she meant it. Inside however, Chris agreed with Nash. This was hopeless.
Nash didn't move, and continued to stare at her. "Admit it Chris. We've hit a dead end."
Chris stood up abruptly, slamming her hands on the desk. "Are you serious about finding the True Rune or not? Stop being such a whiney pessimist and keep looking! This is our only lead until Thomas and Cecile can locate Eike." Her nerves were shot from hours of looking through books. She always had despised research.
"My my, we are touchy today," Nash muttered. "Are you still sulking because of that talk we had last night?"
Chris pointed at him angrily. "I thought you said you weren't going to bring that subject up anymore!?" She was a lot angrier than she should be, and she knew it. However, Nash always did have that efficient ability to push her over the edge in a matter of seconds.
"I said that under the assumption that you were going to be mature about it instead of sulking like a bratty little girl!" he retorted, and pointed back at her.
"How dare you!" She reached back and grabbed the thickest, heaviest book she could find off of the bookshelf and hurled it across the room at him.
However, much to her despair, he lifted a hand and caught it effortlessly. His eyes narrowed at her agitatedly, and he opened his mouth, most likely to hurl another insult at her.
But before a word could escape his lips, the room began to rumble, and the lights flickered out. The argument forgotten, the two stared at each other in bewildered silence as the rumbling intensified and the entire shelf where Chris had angrily grabbed the book shifted horizontally to reveal a dark hallway beyond it.
A full minute passed as they stared blankly at the passageway, uncertain of what had just happened.
Finally, Nash glanced down at the book he had caught, then to the passageway, and finally back at Chris. "Dare I say it, I think you've found something."
Chris blinked a couple more times, as she came to a realization. "I get it. Thomas thought Eike had been talking about a book he had read about the passageway to the Moon Rune, but in fact, Eike had been talking about the passageway itself!" She walked over to its entrance.
Nash shook his head disbelievingly. "The old 'book-acting-as-a-trigger-to- reveal-the-secret-passageway' trick. Who would have thought?"
"But... Why didn't Eike tell someone about this?" Chris wondered.
He shrugged. "Well, as I understand it, he always was the secretive sort. He probably figured that overall, it was safer to keep it to himself."
"But does it really lead to where Sierra sealed the Moon Rune?" Chris asked, peering down the dark passageway.
"There's only one way to find out," he answered, placing the book on a table and joining Chris at the entrance of the passageway.
They took a few cautious steps inside, looking down the dark hallway to see if they could determine where it led. Chris then stopped, and turned to Nash.
"Maybe we should wait for Thomas and Cecile."
But before Nash could reply, the bookshelf rumbled, and slid smoothly over the entrance, closing with a firm thud. He hurried back and felt around the back of the bookshelf that had closed them in.
"We can't get back out," he stated simply.
"What should we do?" she asked him, squinting to try and force her eyes to focus in the dark.
"What else can we do?" he replied, and begun walking forwards. "We find out where this hallway leads."
She nodded, and followed him through the dark passageway, although she was uncomfortable that she could not see what lay ahead of them due to the darkness.
They followed the narrow passageway for quite some time. For an hour they seemed to be descending, but then the next hour they were ascending. The two did not speak much during this time, but they made a habit of reaching out for each other from time to time to make sure the other was still close by.
Eventually, the passageway began to widen, and soon they could see a faint light indicating that they were very close to arriving on the other side.
"Look! What is that greenish light?" Chris pointed.
"I'm not sure. But we should be careful and make no noise. We don't know what lays beyond," Nash cautioned, but it was obvious that he was eager to get out the dingy passageway as much as she.
They eventually found themselves wandering out of a cave and into a fairly large clearing in a dense forest. The light was tinted green from filtering through the leaves of the trees that were so close together that they could not see the sky. In fact, the foliage surrounding the clearing was so thick, it would be near impossible to leave the area except through the way they had just come.
They didn't have to travel halfway into the clearing before they saw what they were looking for. They stopped dead in their tracks, staring at the sight before them.
It was large, circular, and dark blue in color. It seemed to be a mass of supernatural energy and it looked similar to the giant blue sphere in the Cyndar ruins where Chris had first attained the power of the True Water Rune.
"This must be it," Nash said suddenly.
Before either of them could do or say anything more, a terrible wind began to stir from seemingly nowhere. They both sheltered their eyes as a bright portal of light seemed to explode from the center of the clearing. Out of the portal came a massive monster.
Instantly, they could tell from the scaly skin, sharp teeth and claws, and long tail and snout that it was a dragon. It was bony and decrepit in appearance, but the way it roared at them made it clear there was no weakness to be had in this terrible creature. It also possessed two extraordinarily long fangs that were so big they showed even when its mouth was closed. It was these incisors that clearly identified what the dragon was. It was undead. A vampire dragon.
"Of course," Nash said hoarsely with a nod. "This is the test. Just like the fire dragon Hugo fought for the True Fire Rune and the water dragon you fought for the True Water Rune. Now I must face this vampire dragon for the Blue Moon Rune."
"How are we going to destroy it with just two of us?" Chris asked, drawing her sword, aware that the dragon was now approaching them in slow confident steps.
Nash unsheathed his two legendary swords and held them readily before him. "We'll have to wear it down before I can call upon the true power of the Grosser Fluss."
There was no more time for talk, for the dragon lunged at them, beginning a furious battle.
As the battle began, Chris was extremely impressed with how well the Harmonian handled the two swords. However, she did not immediately see what was so special about them. Nash parried the bloodthirsty dragon's attacks with relative ease, getting good slashes in here and there, but they did not seem to possess any such terrible power that he claimed it had.
Chris was also slashing mercilessly at the beast, striking it in several different spots, and drawing blood each time.
They carried out their strategy, attempting to slowly wear the dragon down, and by it's increasing limp and evident frustration, it appeared to be working.
However, the dragon made an unexpected move and whirled its massive tail around and made direct contact with Nash's head. He went flying backwards and collapsed to the ground with a thud.
Chris immediately ran towards him, uncaring that the extremely angered dragon was roaring and ready to rip apart anyone who came between him and the fresh blood. She dropped to his side taking a quick look to see what damage had been done.
If Nash had been human, the blow from the dragon's tail would have likely snapped his neck. However, vampires were extremely hard to kill and Chris was relieved to see that he was still very much alive, although unconscious.
She immediately closed her eyes and began to gather the True Water Rune's energy, feeling the glowing blue light swirl around her as she began muttering a restorative spell.
"Mother Ocean, please restore and heal," she muttered as a blue orb of water surrounded Nash, and a faint humming could be heard as Nash's wounds were healed within the sphere of water.
A great snarl game from the wounded, undead dragon, and Chris turned to see the demonic creature's jaws open and rushing towards her. With no time to dodge the attack, she squeezed her eyes shut and awaited the blow.
But it didn't come.
She opened her eyes to see Nash between her and the dragon, gritting his teeth, and his swords crossed in the middle where they had deflected the dragon's attack.
"Nash!"
"Thank you, Chris."
She scrambled to her feet and the two of them backed away a little.
"We need to find a way to keep it still while I unleash the power of Grosser Fluss," he said as the dragon, now thoroughly irritated at having been denied his lunch, came darting towards them.
"Cover me, I'm going to try something." Without waiting for a reply, Chris closed her eyes and began murmuring another spell, and was once again surrounded by blue energy from the Water Rune.
Nash kept the dragon away from Chris, attacking it and keeping it distracted.
There was an unnaturally cold wind, and the dragon stopped attacking, confused. Nash looked over at Chris uncertainly.
"Quick! Get away from the dragon, or you'll be hit too!"
He complied, and reached Chris' side just as several large icicles jutted from the ground, engulfing the dragon in the ice. The dragon struggled furiously, the ice cracking. The prison of ice would not hold him for long.
"Run for the passageway so I can use the Grosser Fluss."
"But Nash-"
"Remember, once I unleash its power, I won't be able to maintain control." He narrowed his eyes at the demon-dragon as he spoke. When Chris hesitated further, his eyes slid over to her and he grinned with a hint of sarcasm. "I know you're terribly worried about me, but rest assured, I've done this before."
Chris nodded and ran for the passageway.
The distracting large blocks of ice around the dragon finally shattered and went flying in all directions, as Nash held Grosser Fluss steady at his sides, focusing on his target.
What happened next was one of the most extraordinary things Chris had ever seen. Nash held the swords back, and then swung them forwards in a regular strike. However, by the time he had begun to swing down, the blades appeared elongated and flexible, a mass of pure energy, like lighting from the hilt. It erratically shot from the swords and into the dragon, and now that it was weakened by the earlier attacks, it didn't stand a chance.
In an instant, it had been completely demolished.
The next few moments passed with very little movement. Nash was bent over as he tried to catch his breath, and Chris, still slightly in awe by the power she'd just seen, waited in the cave, uncertain if she should approach him yet.
Finally, Nash straightened and turned back to Chris with a grin. "Chris! We won!"
She nodded and walked silently over to him, shooting subtle glances at the Grosser Fluss in his hands, which had reverted back to looking like two ordinary looking swords.
"I've never seen a weapon like that before. It totally obliterated that dragon!"
"Yes, but I think it was that ice attack saved our lives!" He sheathed the swords and cleared his throat. "Now, let's take a closer look at that," he said, pointing to the navy orb of energy.
She nodded again, and the two made their way towards what they knew to be the seal of the Moon Rune. They stopped a little ways before it, unsure of how to proceed.
"So, how exactly do we go about this?" he asked.
However, when he turned to look at her, he was startled to find Chris in a complete daze, her rune hand glowing and stretched out towards the sphere. He was momentarily confused. Were the runes connecting somehow? Was she releasing the seal?
"Chris?"
She tried to respond several times before being successful. "I can feel him. Someone else has been trying to protect the Moon Rune as well, Nash." Her eyes were wide, as though seeing something he could not.
"Who?"
Her voice was strained with emotion, and she barely whispered her single- word reply.
"Percival."
________________________________________________________________________
A/N: Finally Nashy whips out the Grosser Fluss and wrecks havoc! Okay okay, I know I can't really write action, and I really have no idea what happens when Nash used Grosser Fluss in Suikogaiden, but I did the best I could! ^_^ With every new chapter I post, I get more terrified that I'll start getting flames for making so much stuff up about the seals and the characters. I really am doing the best I can to make this relatively believable! Thanks for reading, as always. ^_^
Also, Eike fans, fear not! He will make an appearance in later chapters!
Next Chapter: 'Percival's Memory'
