Watery Cures
Sierra was dreaming. She was in the middle of a battlefield, holding her sword up high. The young woman lashed out at Demons and monsters that were standing in her way. Like most of her other dreams, Kyoku was nowhere to be seen. Next to her eagerness to kill, that was the strangest part.
Suddenly, she was not alone anymore. A figure stood before her, a figure dressed from head to toe in silver armor. A large Broadsword with a jewel studded hilt was in his possession. The man moved a step closer to Sierra, but for some reason she felt comforted by his presence.
*Listen well, child,* he said, *I am Equitess, the Guardian of Swords. You must seek Time itself, if you wish to know the truth. For just as Time is what saved you from a life of carnage, you must use its power once more. These dreams, they reflect the what might have been, had you been raised as a killer. Remember, Time is your only hope.* The Guardian began to transform into a Medium, and landed in the young gunner's outstretched hands. She wondered what the message meant.
* * *
Her three companions were back at Baskar, asking the help of Marco. But he was just as puzzled as anyone, never having to deal with a Demonic curse before. Suddenly, Equitess's Medium appeared on her breast. The young priest took it as a vision that she was under the Guardian's protection.
"That's it! We need a Guardian to break the spell! I remember old stories that talked of the healing of curses, using the power of Sea Guardian Lucadia. If we go to her shrine underneath the sea, then we will be able to find a way to help Sierra out," Marco stated.
Lyle exclaimed, "I'll do anything to help a pretty lady in need. Let's head out right away to this Undersea Shrine. Before something terrible happens, and Sierra is unable to defend herself." But he didn't elaborate on this. Instead, he switched off Degenos for Equitess, and left for the boat.
* * *
When they arrived at the darkened waters to the north of Baskar, Jacob stepped out onto the bow of the ship to pray. "Oh, great Guardian of the Sea, hear my pleas now. Let us come to your holy sanctuary, so that we may help a friend in need. Her life is in danger, and only you can save her. So please, let us enter your temple." With that, a bubble began to form around the warriors. They were blinded from a bit, as it was as if they were underwater. When their vision cleared, they found themselves in an ornate temple. It had a walkway going over the water, which covered most of the floor. And the torches were dripping water instead of housing fires, like at most other shrines and temples the gang had seen.
"Hold on Sierra," whispered Kyoku to her friend, "We're going to get there soon." The Wind Mouse was sitting atop Lyle's shoulder, and the swordsman was carrying the gunner in his arms. She wanted to be as close to her friend as possible, and figured that sitting on her wouldn't be good for the woman's health. Or she could accidentally freak out again and cause her some bodily harm on accident.
They walked through the temple, and several things happened. Jacob, who had been switching Guardians on every trip to get more skills, mastered Equitess's Lores. He now had completed the job, at least until they got Lucadia. Sasha found a special Crest Graph, that would allow her to begin learning Level 2 spells. She had plenty of extra graphs, finishing Level 1 some time ago. And Lyle managed to find a hint for and master the Fast Draw techniques Slash Rave, Guilty Blade, and Shadow Bind. These were a single enemy attack, a group attack, and an attack that paralyzes a group.
Finally, they arrived at Lucadia's chamber. But something was wrong. There was no lock on the door, yet it would not open. And no puzzle existed either. They sat there for awhile, contemplating the situation. Nothing seemed to come to them, even pushing with all their might hadn't worked.
It was then that Kyoku saw them, ARMs. They appeared to be of Missile Class, and were just laying there. Not one to leave things unattended, she picked them up. The first was a Missile Launcher, with a more powerful Rocket Launcher lying nearby. The main difference was that the Missile Launcher only affected one, while the Rocket Launcher affected all. A group attacking missile called a Skylord was off to the left, and the Light Elemental Orbs ARM, which hit all, was on the right-hand side.
*These ARMs, they are my gifts to you brave humans. Use their power to open the locks to my domain. Only a gunner can enter here, the demons have put a curse on the door,* begged Lucadia.
Sasha called out, "But our only gunner is unconscious. How is she supposed to use the ARMs to open the door, if she isn't in the state of mind to do so?" A frantic tone was in her voice.
Lucadia appeared to be counting to ten. *The ARMs will show her how. Her body will awaken with these guns, and my spell.* Suddenly, the four ARMs began to glow with an unearthly amount of energy. It began to transfer from the guns, into Sierra. Slowly, the girl got up, and the door opened.
"What happened?" she asked, "Last thing I remember was fighting that demon witch? This doesn't look like the meteor at all, where in the heck did we get taken to?"
Lyle filled his friend in on what had happened, and they went inside. There, floating before them, was a giant sea serpent. But she had an aura of power and grace about it, one that the four friends couldn't define. They knew at once that she had to be a Guardian.
*Take my powers, and use them to save the world,* the Sea Guardian begged. She became a Medium at once, and ended up in Sasha's hands. The princess thought for a little, and finally decided to switch off Iona Paua for the great Sea Guardian.
Sierra stated, "Everyone, while I was asleep, I dreamed about the Guardian of Swords. He asked me to find Time itself. If Time is indeed a Guardian, then we'll need to find it, quickly."
Sasha suddenly looked pale. "Dan Darium, Time Guardian. He is said to dwell in a desert north of Vensnia, in an old lab. Supposedly, he was doing a favor for my ancestors there, only leaving to visit his shrine when prayed to or there was trouble afoot. We must look for him there, I don't know where the shrine is, and it seems we'll have a better chance there anyway."
- - - -
Teefa's Last Words…
Well, Sasha can unlock the Lv 2 spells at the next town, and Jacob learns Lores with every new Guardian, borrowing it from whomever I say wields it. The others need to find theirs skills with more difficulty. The intrigue's coming soon, Dan Darium's got an interesting backstory.