| ---~~~ C R Y O F O M E N S ~~~---
- Chapter Four : An Unexpected Guidance. -
Factoids:
-- Words between ~ signify mindspeech.
-- Words in italics signify your typical 'flashback' scenario or thoughts by the indicated character. Sometimes it's used for Emphasis too. ^_^
-- Words between * are being emphasized.
Notes:
-- Woogity! New chapter! Heh? Guys, I've been thinking about this 'once a month' update thing... and I'm sorry if it's a long while to wait. o_o I'm just really busy. So- I got to thinking. Would you rather I update twice a month with chapters around 20-25K -- or monthly with a chapter of about 60K? I like to think the chapters I put out are substantial; so I'd be happy to provide whatever increments you chose.
-- Mention of Oridalio, Nissel, Mid-Lake, etc... are in fact valid. If you have a map of Endiness from the guide, check it out; I'm trying to stay true to the geography therein. I couldn't really READ the names of some of these places we were never allowed to go to in the game, so I made my best educated guess. If you would like to view said map, hop on over to the following URL:
Link:
~ http://www.raptorjnb.com/serdia/serdia_images/lod14.JPG
-- I'm also going to TRY and update again for New Years. If I can't- the next chapter will come out on Jan 14th.
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Baleport, the Serdian coast boating station, had been only some few months bustling with activity since its opening to all sea-fairing vessels exploring the great waters of Endiness. The geography of the Serdian coastline really only allowed for a shallow little niche to be made between the boundaries of MidLake and the vastly unexplored Oridalio; but granted the recent boom of boating commerce and similar mapping of hearty fishing waters, it was only natural the docks become a part of Bale's quaint landscape. The route's were long and sometimes harsh, as Serdian waters proved volatile at times, but a contract had already been signed to canal the valleys surrounding Midlake. The decision would ultimately serve as a sort of bypass for those en route to other destinations, evading the cold mystique of uncharted waters. For now, however...
Dart gently sighed his relief at seeing the familiar Serdian coast arch over the horizon. Jaded eyes closed as gulls cried overhead, and he was thankful their speedy voyage had proven uneventful. The last thing he or his fellow companions needed was to land up caught in a tempest- and it was no man's bluff to recall the sea often milling with a war of air and waves.
Sun-touched blonde fell into his eyes as Dart turned his gaze upon his left palm; worn fingers splayed upwards. There rested the violet dragoon spirit of thunder, and the ethereal hues of a disgruntled sunset seemed to flash beneath each hint of red or wafting lavender. Carefully, his grip tightened along its cool surface, and with an absent thought the item was pocketed gracefully at a pack that adorned his side. Not now. Don't think about it now.
Was there no haven his mind could wander? No peaceful thoughts?
Out on deck, the sun spliced through gathering clouds with spiteful defiance. The sky was a riveting black and gray cut through with warm rays of light. These struck the ocean, as if to spotlight their ship, a swell of water, or ominous distance. Out here, so close, yet so far from home, there was a loneliness to be fought... But he dismissed these thoughts when Shana's footsteps echoed behind him. Yes- Perhaps a loneliness to his conscious. His heart, however, was safely tucked into the embrace of another.
"Everyone is ready." Shana echoed peacefully into the cool air. "Meru, Miranda and Emily are up on the bridge with Derrick. Have been for the past half hour, I'd guess. Poor man will probably receive SOME slack from Zoir for taking a Tiberoan warship out on an errand like this... but it was certainly a warranted fetch. When we get on dock...?"
"- I'll have one of the Knights escort you back to to our home in Seles. I, Emily, Meru and-"
"- You KNOW I won't accept that. I'm coming with you."
Dart turned softly , his expression ridden with a taunt plundering of worry. He'd expected it- really. Had even prepared a speech.
"No, Shana. Not with our child on the way, and the potential threat of-"
"-Danger? I'm not stupid." She shook her head gently, long brown bangs framing sullen features. "- But I can stay in the castle. With a few of your knighthood, if you prefer. I don't want to be a day's ride from this problem knowing Albert's life is at stake, and both my husband and friends may be in jeopardy. Comfort is hard to find; just let me be near. I couldn't stand to wait for word from Indels back home. I couldn't..."
... It rather seemed Shana had prepared a speech as well.
Dart's response sounded almost pained; a long rush of air that was half a sigh, and half a helpless release of exasperation. He understood, he didn't care, and he didn't understand all at once; but he did know Shana. And he knew that, regardless of his instructing her an escort back to Seles, she'd saddle one of the Runner's in their stables as soon as she got back and make haste to the castle afterwards.
Shana seemed to read his thoughts. Slender arms wrapped around herself, and with a faint smile, she nodded.
"I really would, you know."
Dart replied with half a glare, but let it slide again into rooted concern.
"You won't be on the third level. You'll be with a guard on the ground floor. Don't come up until I come down with our enemy safely restrained.
Shana lifted a hand, and crossed her heart in promise.
Port came near, then upon them not ten minutes later. As soon as the aft planks dropped, the task was at hand. There was an itching at Dart's chest; his stone, hidden upon a necklace beneath his clothing. It was echoing with a power that demanded an anger. That demanded his footsteps quicken in pace. This was the old pull of acknowledgment that stated, ever simply; 'Summon my aide.'
... If so needed.
Just an if.
Miranda's brisk walk brought them towards the castle. Meru seemed apprehensive, but the sacred sister? Not more then ready to 'bust a few heads' as she often put it. Cobble passed beneath their feet as they exited the boards and began into the city itself. Past shops and vendors and homes, Bale never seemed to change. Even in the grip of war, the prospect of destruction or now- the jeopardy of their king. There was a calm, here. An unsettled, knowing calm, but a calm nevertheless. Mothers, Fathers and children watched as their four dragoon Warriors navigated the narrow streets. They knew, and they were grateful.
The trek on foot to their familiar castle came swiftly. The sky was a rumbling overcast, now. Something fierce- ready to break. Here and there, people shifted under the brewing weather to venture outside, and light the lanterns that lined their crowded streets. It was a glow that, even under the circumstances, came as a hauntingly beautiful addition to a not as appealing situation.
Three guardsmen were on Dart's heels as he climbed the stairs. Emily, at his side, echoed a blindly determined; "-Specifics?"
"Still no luck getting in, majesty. Not a word, and not a sound."
"Three further attempts to gain entry have been made."
"-Weapons melt under the barrier. Human touch is warded. It's not harmful, but it makes you go numb as ice..."
Dart nodded briskly at each separate response. As Meru and Miranda unconsciously readied themselves for a confrontation, he sent a immediate order to have Shana placed under the supervision of one of his Knights. His wife, and the mother of his future child, was whisked away within the span of a breath. She could only watch as the active castle bustled around her, attendants and guards running down hallways to accomplish any number of tasks. It was warm inside, and certainly inviting to one whom had always considered the castle a second home, but now comfort had been replaced with intense apprehension. Miranda's elegant, but lethal bow was flexed in one palm. Emily's twin Daggers, weapons of choice kept strapped to her waist, were prominent and waiting. Meru? Her ungainly warhammer was cocked over one shoulder, and those bright ruby eyes were fierce with a sudden maturity.
Dart led them to the third floor, up the central staircase. His sword unsheathed with the cold, killing sound of a predator's snapping jaws as they entered the throne room.
"Be careful-!" Shana called to him.
"Always." Was his immediate response.
--~~--~~--~~--~~--~~--~~--~~--
Where... am I?
He couldn't really tell. Not aptly, in any case. There really was not a sense of the proverbial 'is', but more a sense of knowing. Of being a part of a greater whole, in which somewhere- answers did lay. Was he dreaming? Was it a nightmare? Or did it even matter, when for the life of all that was and was not, Albert could only remember a disturbing clarity in an unwarranted peace. Something was right, and something was very wrong.
I need to find it. I need to hold that truth.
But he could feel again. He could think again, and find words for sensation that had been previously denied. If he was, surely he was in a place? But his eyes, of which yes- he'd found words for... could not see. Were they closed? maybe something as childish as that? they didn't feel closed... Or give the indication that they WOULD feel closed. Perhaps he 'was' in blackness, then? Void? Maybe he'd been wrong.
Maybe he still 'was not'.
There-! Wait... that flutter of being. Memories began to access the concept of time. It had been long, then? Sleeping? Unknowing? He wanted to know, because being unable to exist without a place was frightening, in its own way. It gave him the motivation to fight for a glimpse of himself, at the least, and rather suddenly, he had the strangest realization.
There was a man. On a bed. With honey brown hair combed neatly back. His eyes were closed, his arms folded over his chest, and familiar bedding seemed to rise just to his waist. Clothing? A green tunic of some kind. The color suited.
Suited him.
Albert felt the strangest sensation of Deja' vu.
And there was another man too, wasn't there? Someone vague, lacking the sharp details of the image he'd begun to define as him. This person was near him, on his knees, with hands busied amidst tender motions that seemed almost of a casting. A casting of a spell? He knelt beside the bed, a bowl of water to his right. In this, there were herbs. And the scent... of roses? Myrrh and Sandalwood, with the undeniable presence of gardenia. The movements were endlessly dedicated. A fluid, perhaps lovely motion.
But who was he?
"Who are you?"
And the entire world became reality as the unconscious ability to speak was broached. For the first time in months, hazel eyes opened to the world they'd left behind.
The stranger that shared Albert's room suddenly paused in his ministrations, his hands falling still. After only the most delicate of moments, they lowered to rest on grey-clothed thighs. A shuffle was heard. The figure tilted his head, and what seemed an endless waterfall of burnt honey gold spilled over slender shoulders. A lapsed silence in the room parted with the sound of a light splash thereafter; water from the small wooden bowl was being poured into a cup.
"You're awake..."
A sort of lost breath escaped the young king. The halted kind, where you need to think about every intake. Every word. From the barracks of limbo, he was suddenly aware? He was suddenly here? He was suddenly now?
"Try not to move to abruptly, youngling. Your muscles haven't been put to use for a deal of time; it will be very easy for you to strain yourself."
That voice again. It was smooth, and soft, and kind. Albert again moved to ask the figure his helpless question, but a hand drifted to his back and lifted. Sat him up.
"My name is Marius." Came a sentence. Albert found his hands suddenly closing around an offered cup of that scented water. Regardless of unease or confusion, he was grateful to have it, and not coherent enough to question this 'Marius' presence when a somehow terribly parched mouth cried out for attention. "I'm a healer, you could say. I should hope, in time, a friend. Granted your comrades don't kill me for all this trouble."
Albert's eyes alighted with confusion as he took a sip off the offered drink. It... tasted sweet. Nearly like a peach, really, although he was far more impressed with the way his vision and mind began to clear after every needed swallow than to wonder over it's making. Now sitting up under his own power, a tired body grumbled at him. Goddess, it felt as if he'd been sleeping for days.
".... I.. I don't understand. A healer...?" Questioning eyes rose. They tried to take in the face that regarded him gently. "Why? Why are you here?"
Marius' features, Albert realized with a jolt... were very similar to his own. Just... more angular. Older. Perhaps the age of 35. He looked amazingly kind, but terribly sad. Haunted- was the word that came to mind, and the youth stared back into gold eyes that seemed to know all to much.
"You've been in a coma for the past few months, young King of Serdio."
Albert gasped as Marius rose, his voice choked with disbelief.
"-What!?"
"Shh." Came a coaxing sound. The tall figure, surely a few inches over six foot, moved to the single window in Albert's room. The room indeed was as Albert had remembered it. Nothing seemed out of place, or wrong. The oakwood and pine was a deep rustic color - the books just as worn and the papers ever awry.
"I..." A helpless sound. "I don't understand..."
Marius' mouth drifted into a thoughtful frown, slender lips pursed as if in a recollection of some kind. Straight nose, large eyes, stern brows and an ever regal posture. His hair was a striking feature; so long it needed to be pinned into a thick ponytail to keep from sweeping the floor. He'd seen him before. Albert knew he had seen him before. Down to the bronzed complexion, the face had been imprinted into his mind once upon a time.
And his confusion only mounted at this revelation.
Marius turned away from the window in a swirl of gray fabric and cream-white cloak. "I'm sorry. I do not mean to appear deceiving or any facet of the such. But rather, I would appreciate your patience if just a little longer. Your friends will be here shortly, I'm certain of it."
Friends...
His wife...
Emmy...
"They... are they alright?" He asked quietly.
Marius opened his mouth to reply, when footsteps echoed outside.
"I believe we're about to find out."
A 'tmp' sound echoed off the door, and Albert stared in bewildered exhaustion. He recognized the sound regardless, willing himself to remember the noise one of Miranda's arrows made when striking a solid object. It was the same- and the curse that followed was surely the same. What in the great hells...?
"... My arrow MELTED-!!!"
"- Don't use weapons." A voice that was easily Dart's seemed to remind. "I think we'll need magic..."
"I put a seal on the door." Marius explained quietly, again bringing up either hand to weave them in a few careful motions. Albert's eyes flew wide when he realized that dancing along the man's fingertips, there seemed a white whirl of energy that flowered as liquid light. He WAS using the action to cast a spell, but worry drifted away when his long-haired companion spoke again.
"I'm afraid to admit I didn't come to you amidst the formalities of invitation, Majesty. I needed to see you. To help you- and your friends. There's so much to explain, and I apologize deeply for such an abrupt involvement... but highly doubting the guards would allow me to stroll within the castle and seek the audience of their unconscious king, I put a few of your troop asleep and stole away into your room. The barrier was just to give us peace; I could never work any medicine with distractions like... being dragged out of the castle and whatnot."
Albert let out a humorless chuckle. "I... see. What are you do-?"
"- Doing? Bringing down the barrier. One moment..."
The voices outside the room seemed to hush. Something was obviously happening. Weakly, the king of Serdio attempted to get up. Walk. See what was going ON... but he didn't get much farther then to collapse back against the bed after a single try, setting his cup aside and looking somewhat pained.
"As I said- please don't strain yourself." Marius' voice began with an almost fatherly tone.
Left without many other options, Albert waited in a state of incredulous uncertainty.
--~~--~~--~~--~~--~~--~~--~~--
Emily had narrowed her eyes and tensed when coming upon she and Albert's bedchamber. There was a something- a something one could feel as a dragoon- in the air. She could not say it felt hostile, but more invading; certainly not of her knowledge or understanding. The entrance itself to her room was blocked by an honest transparent field of what appeared liquid... light? Miranda's arrow, shot to test the abnormality, simply melted away when it hit the barrier. Quite literally. Meru actually dared to touch it, and was rewarded only with an arm that had numbed in a manner of seconds. As their Wingly companion furiously rubbed her limb to work feeling back throughout her flesh, she and Dart now stood before the door.
"Don't use weapons." Dart began. "I think we'll need magic."
"Of what kind?" Emily asked, looking to him. Her concern was promptly held in check, but the strain in her eyes was overly evident. "Whatever kind of wall this is- it seems 'Light' based. We don't have 'Darkness' based attacks to contradict it; aside perhaps in dragoon form.
Meru shook out her arm, hissing quietly under her breath. "Well... look at it this way. If all this field seems to do is numb the people that touch it and... melt weapons... maybe were not looking at a worst-case-scenario? It's not violent, is my point. It's not hostile!"
"Not hostile!?" That from Miranda, who was preparing another arrow. "Some quack has decided to take one of my friends hostage. That's hostile enough to mean someone's going to receive a SEVERE ass kicking..."
"Regardless..." Dart spoke, perhaps just the faintest twinge of hopeful relief calming his nerves. "... Meru may be right."
"- Yet I've never seen magic like this before..." Emily added quietly. "It's not... normal."
A silence.
"... Well- neither is that." Meru stated, pointing towards the entrance.
The offending barrier flickered quite suddenly. A pulse, so light it could aide only a whisper, and so faint in the detection of power that even Dragoon Stones, normally attuned to any magical flux, rested at ease. All four warriors stepped back a few delicate paces as a chime seemed to echo into the air. All at once, the field was gone. It simply vanished, as if whisked away by an imposing wind. Dart's hair ruffled lightly in the breeze that accompanied its departure, and for a moment, he could only stare.
Meru... blinked. Dart rose a hand for quiet. Emily tensed.
Miranda kicked the door in.
It burst backwards violently on its hinges as an outright ENRAGED sacred sister stalked into the room with bow raised. Emily shouted her name in warning, as being stupid wasn't going to help Albert OR their situation... but the queen's reprimand faded away when she caught sight of her husband. Albert- who was sitting up in his bed with a terse expression. Confusion, shock, uncertainty... all these emotions ran behind his eyes in the flicker of a single moment. And Emily...? Emily's concern was gone. Her worry- torn from its foundation. Her eyes opened wide and her mouth parted into a joyous smile.
"-LOVE-!"
Albert tried to move to her, but couldn't make it more then an attempt at motion before his body gave out, and he hunched over with a curse. Meru's face was alight; a little girl suddenly caught up in a surprise she'd NEVER expected... And Dart's shock and happiness was only overruled by the presence of the stranger. A tall, nearly ethereal figure stepped back at Miranda's sharp entrance and the blonde's raised sword.
Their friend was back.
- But that didn't change the fact that they were potentially dealing with someone very dangerous.
"... Quite... violent- aren't we?" The man spoke.
Miranda, at the moment, was level with Dart's train of thought. "Shut up and explain your presence." And her bow strung taunt. "Or I'll put a hole in your crotch that'll make you talk."
"... Rather crude, as well."
Hoy...
"Miranda- stop-!!" Albert began. One hand was clasped with Emily's own; but the shout seemed to knock all the force from his lungs. At the very least, it was enough to make the woman's bow quaver. Her eyes flickered to the king, and then Dart. Their leader still held his sword outstretched against the neck of their... enemy. The enemy of whom simply spread his arms to show no intent, and gazed back into Dart's burning blue gaze with gentle golden eyes.
"Dart..." Meru started in a hushed voice. She looked to Albert, and then to him. "... Albert's fine."
The divine dragoon hesitated. Stared at Emily, who found his gaze with one full of uncertain, yet grateful wonder. Fact was Fact. Albert had been in a coma. Was now awake. Had yelled stop. Was fine.
"... Who are you...?" Dart began carefully.
"My name is Marius Ahnaran." Their presudo captive answered lightly. Focused as they were, the group did not notice when Albert suddenly stilled at the mention of his full name.
"- And I promise you, I do not come bearing intent of harm."
"Funny." Miranda spat. "What with this entire fiasco." She stalked forwards, although now her bow was lowered. Stopping about a foot from Marius, her eyes studied him intently. She was searching, perhaps, for a flicker of deceit in his eyes. "You've stormed a castle, you know."
"Pardon- But I do believe 'you' were the one that kicked in the door."
The Sacred sister smirked without humor, lips curling into a silent snarl.
"Ahnaran..." Albert echoed. His voice was hoarse- disbelieving. Dart's regarded his friend, eyes narrowing in suspicion before turning back upon Marius. The tip of his sword quivered only lightly. Slowly- his weapon lowered. Meru folded her arms, giving a tense huff as shaky nerves fought to calm, and Emily... she touched her husbands cheek.
"... You know him?" Miranda's rough voice questioned.
"... I do." Albert answered with a shaky breath.
"Is he really who he states himself to be?" Dart cut in, unable to be anything BUT on edge.
Albert closed his eyes, thoughts wracked in a whirlwind of situations and books and remembrance. The here and now of the present was almost overwhelming. In a coma for months? He'd worried his friends, he had NO idea what was going on, and by goddess, Marius? It couldn't be true. It was impossible.
Marius Ahnaran.
When Albert managed to look up again, all eyes were upon him. As if somehow, in some way, whatever it seemed he was looking to say could solve their calamity of problems. Only their guest did not waver. He quietly awaited the words Albert struggled to find.
"... You cannot be him."
The lightest nod. "I am, little one."
"Marius Ahnaran died over-!"
"-Eleven thousand years ago. Yes, I'm well aware I have no right to exist in the here and now. I am the first king of your ancestry. And I need you to believe in me, if you have any hope of overcoming the war that is about to unfold."
This time, when silence fell, it was heavy enough to feel. Confusion. The terrible confusion of friends stuck in the weave of a bind they know will hold- and swallow them. Now, the dragoon stones that lay so dormant; that snuggled so safely against the folds of cloth which adorned their partners, did begin to stir. They awoke in hymn; in a resonation as old as time, where the deepest fears and the greatest sacrifices arose a feeling of dread unlike any other. This song was of Four spirits.
Four- joined by the two Marius now presented in either palm. Crimson red. Darkest night.
Dart braced an arm against the wall for support.
"Just let me speak." Marius nearly whispered.
Miranda's bow clattered to the floor as she whispered a struck; "Rose..."
"You have so much to learn..." The ancient king continued. "And Endiness- so very little time."
~ end chapter four ~
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