Note: This has spoilers from S2 and S3 in it. Be warned. Also, I was really, really tired when I wrote this, so it may be a little...weird.
"Old Comrades" by Edward Ropple, aka Blacken
I watch Hugo cast the final spell that shatters the fate-defying True Wind Rune Incarnation's fragile crystalline body. The whorls of vibrant color from each True Rune's extraction halo it with eerie lights as it makes a slow plummet to the hard yet invisible ground.
Bright lets out a gasp beneath me and I come close to the same. Crystal shards blaze towards us like ice spears. I guide Bright into a turn and he raises a toughened wing to shield me from the worst of them. Some get through and open gashes in my arms and legs. I ignore the pain and leap from Bright's back, drawing Humphrey's Muramasa. Luc casts a shaky silhouette in the hailstorm and I start forward, determined to reach him.
Whether I shall drag him to safety or kill him, I do not know.
* * *
Cleo, bow in hand, screams at the teenage boy standing before her. I stand behind with Black, but I can see them all well enough. The remnants of the magical golem sink into nothingness below us. "Are you insane? You attack the messenger of Emperor Barbarossa?!"
For his part, the boy wears a bland smirk. The invocation of Barbarossa's name does not faze him. "I am Luc. Lady Leknaat will see you now." Without waiting for her response he turns to ascend towards the tower.
I exchange bemused glances with Black and watch them hasten to catch up with him.
* * *
It was the first time I ever saw Luc. His total lack of candor amused me. The memory returns to me now as I fight to reach him. Parts of the crystal bird rain down around me. One misses only by inches.
This turn of Luc's is wrong. I know this in the pit of my stomach. And yet I have committed myself to reaching him. It is too late for me to turn back now. My dice are cast. Agony suffuses me as Windy's lightning bolt arcs across the sky and cores into me. Black releases a cry of pain and bucks. Through a haze I collapse, falling from his back.
My skin blisters and sears as a second bolt wreaks havoc upon me. Black cries out again. Out of the corner of my eye I see him swooping down towards me. He dives faster than I fall, but only slightly. I am barely one hundred feet from the ground when his back sidles under me. I scramble into a riding position as Black reflexively pulls up.
It looks as if he will succeed for a moment until another bolt tears into us both. I feel not just my pain but his as we fall.
Minutes and hours pass before I wake and my eyes open weakly. A furrow of shattered trees mark where Black has come down. I am at least fifty feet away. My arms and legs scream with pain; I relish it. It means I live.
Voices fade in and out. I recognize none of them. I know immediately who they are: Schezerazade's garrison troops. My spear is nowhere to be found.
Two silver-armored soldiers fade into my wavering field of view. One speaks, but I cannot understand him. The upraised sword informs me.
I need not worry. Luc flares into existence before me, staff in hand. He calls upon his Wind Rune and the soldiers are ripped asunder.
A smile crosses my lips as Luc looks down at me impassively. He gestures and we fade from sight.
* * *
Though my Black died, Luc saved me then. I never learned why. Some made conjectures: a sense of duty, a sense of humor, unreciprocated "interest." It was within his rights not to tell me, but it still niggled at me.
A spurt of uncontrolled magic creates a boulder of ice that smashes across my shoulders. I roll with it, scrambling to my feet and continuing at full speed. Distortions appear in the "walls" of the magical plane. It is falling. I can only hope that Luc can release us.
* * *
I leap into the air and drive my spear into the harpy's neck. A gout of black blood stains the dirt. I hasten to get clear before it crashes to the ground.
Humphrey helps me to my feet and nods approvingly. Lord Riou looks at me with something akin to respect. I chuckle, but stop as I sense Luc's gaze. It is the first time I have seen him since the fall of the Scarlet Moon Empire. He has said nothing, but looks disapproving.
"Futch!"
I run forward to where Kent lies. "Kent! Are you alright?" I demand.
He nods. "Yeah. I just twisted my ankle. I'm okay now." Kent takes a few cautious steps. "See?"
I nod. "Good."
"But, Futch! There's a dragon up here! I heard it!"
"What? That's impossible!"
Humphrey says, "Look." His sweeping Muramasa points toward the altar. "There."
I look and see the egg upon it. I swallow hard. "It can't be!"
Before I sprint to the egg, Luc reaches out and grips my arm. He forces me to look at him. "Choose right."
* * *
The irony strikes me. Luc's words helped impel me to take Bright as my own. Now he falls due in part to me.
The magical warping has rendered Hugo and the others invisible. Luc looks only slightly closer. Bolts of red lightning bracket me, seemingly determined to stop me. I am hit with a succession of incandescent bolts, but I press on.
* * *
"We must not fail!" Flik's voice rings out over the battlefield. I follow through on Georg's and Humphrey's charge with my small group of spearmen. The Highland soldiers envelop us and nibble at our forces. Not far away, the Harmonian cavalry is preparing to advance.
Ridley, Miklotov, and Camus form on the flank of the swarming Highland force. They are battered back by a hail of magic and arrows.
I hear a buzzing, crackling sound overhead and risk death to see what it is. Luc is floating overhead, wind buoying his flight. In the distance I can see Bishop Sasarai. His lips are moving as if he is shouting, but I hear no sound over the din of battle.
Luc responds in kind, waving and gesticulating. I only hear a single sentence: "Feel the power of my True Wind Rune!"
Tempestuous winds spawn and batter our enemies. The Highland soldiers throw down their weapons and dive to the ground, hoping vainly to be covered from the wind. It helps them little. The magical wind plucks them from the ground and hurls them into the air. Though I stand in the center of the tempest, I and our other soldiers are unaffected in the least.
A welcome sight draws a cheer from our soldiers. The Harmonians are turning and fleeing. It seems like ages have passed since the Incarnation of Luc's cursed Rune crashed to the "ground."
* * *
I stand a mere ten feet from him now. The swirling aura of the five elements prevent me from approaching closer.
He turns his head and looks at me blankly. "Futch..." he hisses.
"Luc." Humphrey's blade is heavy in my hand and I grip it with both hands.
The movement is noticed by the "boy" magician now. He raises a hand and the rictus about him abates. "Do you plan to kill me with that, Futch?"
"Perhaps." I shift uneasily, stepping forward carefully.
He chants a spell and I foolishly tense. A trio of glowing smoky tendrils envelops me, healing me in a flash. "You won't kill me. Not only do you know that only I can release you, you want to know why I do this."
"I do?"
His gaunt face is eerie as he nods at me. "And I will tell you."
I let the Muramasa dip and rest on the ground. "We haven't time. We have to leave now."
"No."
"No?"
He does not move, but a spell encompasses us nonetheless. A swirl of amber and green light sucks us in and deposits us on a featureless gray plain.
I am slightly disoriented by the teleporting. "Where are we?"
"We are in a nowhere where time no longer exists. I have little time to live in our world." Luc looks distinctly worse for the experience of the teleport.
Slowly, I sheathe Humphrey's sword. "Tell me why."
"Why I brought you here?"
"Do not deliberately misunderstand me. Why?"
Luc seems to deflate and sinks to a sitting position. "I have lived as long in this cage as I can bear."
"Thirty years? Ted bore his for ten times that."
"Thirty years of the constant companionship of an ageless entity. Others have had life without it, if only briefly, but I have never beheld a single thought only from me." Luc presses his gloved hands together. "Do you recall what I said to Hugo about the Runes? Their conflict in this world?"
"Yes."
He waves a hand. "This is the terminus. Order always prevails."
I inspect our surroundings. They are barren and bleak. "Does anything live?"
"Very little. Some that seek refuge from other worlds, already 'resolved' worlds, may end up here. They always die." Caught in the midst of scanning the horizon, Luc points. "There."
I follow his indication. A figure wearing a cloak with riotous colors stands alone. A red sphere manifests itself right behind him. He is absorbed in seconds.
Luc continues in a dull voice. "Chaos and life are implacably suppressed." He turns to me. "This is what you fight me for."
"I fight to save those you'll kill."
"Do you? Your Joshua Levenheit retired and let himself die rather than face this very choice. Tir will soon begin to see. I knew always that this would come, Futch. The will of the Tenkai Star is as strong as any True Rune. I had little chance to succeed." Luc stops for a moment, steepling his fingers. "I had to try, though."
I know not what to say. "What can be done?"
"By us? Nothing." Luc spread his arms. "The Tenkai Star, however, has the power to shape Fate. You may recall Leknaat nattering on about that."
I sit crosslegged on the ground. Luc follows. I am too caught by his words to take note of the oddity of the situation: on another world and talking to one who has been both enemy and friend. "I do. Go on."
"With his help, chaos can balance order. Destroying my Rune would force balance even without him." Luc looks deathly pale. "Leknaat's idea of 'balance' is obviously the first." He stands again. "And that is all I can say."
I scramble to my feet. "What will happen, Luc, when we return? Will you just...die?"
"Very soon. Mastering all five Runes has doomed me." He seems at peace with this.
"We can't heal you?"
Luc closes his eyes. "Perhaps I am too proud. But I could not bear to live now. I would be seen only as the man who failed to best Fate. Thank you. But no...my friend."
"Friend?"
"Would others have listened instead of attacked?"
"I owed...owe...you my life."
To my astonishment, he smiles. "And I owe you and Sera my soul, it seems."
I nod stiffly and stand, not knowing what to say to that. "I'm ready to go back when you are."
My eyes dazzle with amber and green. The next words I hear are Hugo's.
"It's over."
"Old Comrades" by Edward Ropple, aka Blacken
I watch Hugo cast the final spell that shatters the fate-defying True Wind Rune Incarnation's fragile crystalline body. The whorls of vibrant color from each True Rune's extraction halo it with eerie lights as it makes a slow plummet to the hard yet invisible ground.
Bright lets out a gasp beneath me and I come close to the same. Crystal shards blaze towards us like ice spears. I guide Bright into a turn and he raises a toughened wing to shield me from the worst of them. Some get through and open gashes in my arms and legs. I ignore the pain and leap from Bright's back, drawing Humphrey's Muramasa. Luc casts a shaky silhouette in the hailstorm and I start forward, determined to reach him.
Whether I shall drag him to safety or kill him, I do not know.
* * *
Cleo, bow in hand, screams at the teenage boy standing before her. I stand behind with Black, but I can see them all well enough. The remnants of the magical golem sink into nothingness below us. "Are you insane? You attack the messenger of Emperor Barbarossa?!"
For his part, the boy wears a bland smirk. The invocation of Barbarossa's name does not faze him. "I am Luc. Lady Leknaat will see you now." Without waiting for her response he turns to ascend towards the tower.
I exchange bemused glances with Black and watch them hasten to catch up with him.
* * *
It was the first time I ever saw Luc. His total lack of candor amused me. The memory returns to me now as I fight to reach him. Parts of the crystal bird rain down around me. One misses only by inches.
This turn of Luc's is wrong. I know this in the pit of my stomach. And yet I have committed myself to reaching him. It is too late for me to turn back now. My dice are cast. Agony suffuses me as Windy's lightning bolt arcs across the sky and cores into me. Black releases a cry of pain and bucks. Through a haze I collapse, falling from his back.
My skin blisters and sears as a second bolt wreaks havoc upon me. Black cries out again. Out of the corner of my eye I see him swooping down towards me. He dives faster than I fall, but only slightly. I am barely one hundred feet from the ground when his back sidles under me. I scramble into a riding position as Black reflexively pulls up.
It looks as if he will succeed for a moment until another bolt tears into us both. I feel not just my pain but his as we fall.
Minutes and hours pass before I wake and my eyes open weakly. A furrow of shattered trees mark where Black has come down. I am at least fifty feet away. My arms and legs scream with pain; I relish it. It means I live.
Voices fade in and out. I recognize none of them. I know immediately who they are: Schezerazade's garrison troops. My spear is nowhere to be found.
Two silver-armored soldiers fade into my wavering field of view. One speaks, but I cannot understand him. The upraised sword informs me.
I need not worry. Luc flares into existence before me, staff in hand. He calls upon his Wind Rune and the soldiers are ripped asunder.
A smile crosses my lips as Luc looks down at me impassively. He gestures and we fade from sight.
* * *
Though my Black died, Luc saved me then. I never learned why. Some made conjectures: a sense of duty, a sense of humor, unreciprocated "interest." It was within his rights not to tell me, but it still niggled at me.
A spurt of uncontrolled magic creates a boulder of ice that smashes across my shoulders. I roll with it, scrambling to my feet and continuing at full speed. Distortions appear in the "walls" of the magical plane. It is falling. I can only hope that Luc can release us.
* * *
I leap into the air and drive my spear into the harpy's neck. A gout of black blood stains the dirt. I hasten to get clear before it crashes to the ground.
Humphrey helps me to my feet and nods approvingly. Lord Riou looks at me with something akin to respect. I chuckle, but stop as I sense Luc's gaze. It is the first time I have seen him since the fall of the Scarlet Moon Empire. He has said nothing, but looks disapproving.
"Futch!"
I run forward to where Kent lies. "Kent! Are you alright?" I demand.
He nods. "Yeah. I just twisted my ankle. I'm okay now." Kent takes a few cautious steps. "See?"
I nod. "Good."
"But, Futch! There's a dragon up here! I heard it!"
"What? That's impossible!"
Humphrey says, "Look." His sweeping Muramasa points toward the altar. "There."
I look and see the egg upon it. I swallow hard. "It can't be!"
Before I sprint to the egg, Luc reaches out and grips my arm. He forces me to look at him. "Choose right."
* * *
The irony strikes me. Luc's words helped impel me to take Bright as my own. Now he falls due in part to me.
The magical warping has rendered Hugo and the others invisible. Luc looks only slightly closer. Bolts of red lightning bracket me, seemingly determined to stop me. I am hit with a succession of incandescent bolts, but I press on.
* * *
"We must not fail!" Flik's voice rings out over the battlefield. I follow through on Georg's and Humphrey's charge with my small group of spearmen. The Highland soldiers envelop us and nibble at our forces. Not far away, the Harmonian cavalry is preparing to advance.
Ridley, Miklotov, and Camus form on the flank of the swarming Highland force. They are battered back by a hail of magic and arrows.
I hear a buzzing, crackling sound overhead and risk death to see what it is. Luc is floating overhead, wind buoying his flight. In the distance I can see Bishop Sasarai. His lips are moving as if he is shouting, but I hear no sound over the din of battle.
Luc responds in kind, waving and gesticulating. I only hear a single sentence: "Feel the power of my True Wind Rune!"
Tempestuous winds spawn and batter our enemies. The Highland soldiers throw down their weapons and dive to the ground, hoping vainly to be covered from the wind. It helps them little. The magical wind plucks them from the ground and hurls them into the air. Though I stand in the center of the tempest, I and our other soldiers are unaffected in the least.
A welcome sight draws a cheer from our soldiers. The Harmonians are turning and fleeing. It seems like ages have passed since the Incarnation of Luc's cursed Rune crashed to the "ground."
* * *
I stand a mere ten feet from him now. The swirling aura of the five elements prevent me from approaching closer.
He turns his head and looks at me blankly. "Futch..." he hisses.
"Luc." Humphrey's blade is heavy in my hand and I grip it with both hands.
The movement is noticed by the "boy" magician now. He raises a hand and the rictus about him abates. "Do you plan to kill me with that, Futch?"
"Perhaps." I shift uneasily, stepping forward carefully.
He chants a spell and I foolishly tense. A trio of glowing smoky tendrils envelops me, healing me in a flash. "You won't kill me. Not only do you know that only I can release you, you want to know why I do this."
"I do?"
His gaunt face is eerie as he nods at me. "And I will tell you."
I let the Muramasa dip and rest on the ground. "We haven't time. We have to leave now."
"No."
"No?"
He does not move, but a spell encompasses us nonetheless. A swirl of amber and green light sucks us in and deposits us on a featureless gray plain.
I am slightly disoriented by the teleporting. "Where are we?"
"We are in a nowhere where time no longer exists. I have little time to live in our world." Luc looks distinctly worse for the experience of the teleport.
Slowly, I sheathe Humphrey's sword. "Tell me why."
"Why I brought you here?"
"Do not deliberately misunderstand me. Why?"
Luc seems to deflate and sinks to a sitting position. "I have lived as long in this cage as I can bear."
"Thirty years? Ted bore his for ten times that."
"Thirty years of the constant companionship of an ageless entity. Others have had life without it, if only briefly, but I have never beheld a single thought only from me." Luc presses his gloved hands together. "Do you recall what I said to Hugo about the Runes? Their conflict in this world?"
"Yes."
He waves a hand. "This is the terminus. Order always prevails."
I inspect our surroundings. They are barren and bleak. "Does anything live?"
"Very little. Some that seek refuge from other worlds, already 'resolved' worlds, may end up here. They always die." Caught in the midst of scanning the horizon, Luc points. "There."
I follow his indication. A figure wearing a cloak with riotous colors stands alone. A red sphere manifests itself right behind him. He is absorbed in seconds.
Luc continues in a dull voice. "Chaos and life are implacably suppressed." He turns to me. "This is what you fight me for."
"I fight to save those you'll kill."
"Do you? Your Joshua Levenheit retired and let himself die rather than face this very choice. Tir will soon begin to see. I knew always that this would come, Futch. The will of the Tenkai Star is as strong as any True Rune. I had little chance to succeed." Luc stops for a moment, steepling his fingers. "I had to try, though."
I know not what to say. "What can be done?"
"By us? Nothing." Luc spread his arms. "The Tenkai Star, however, has the power to shape Fate. You may recall Leknaat nattering on about that."
I sit crosslegged on the ground. Luc follows. I am too caught by his words to take note of the oddity of the situation: on another world and talking to one who has been both enemy and friend. "I do. Go on."
"With his help, chaos can balance order. Destroying my Rune would force balance even without him." Luc looks deathly pale. "Leknaat's idea of 'balance' is obviously the first." He stands again. "And that is all I can say."
I scramble to my feet. "What will happen, Luc, when we return? Will you just...die?"
"Very soon. Mastering all five Runes has doomed me." He seems at peace with this.
"We can't heal you?"
Luc closes his eyes. "Perhaps I am too proud. But I could not bear to live now. I would be seen only as the man who failed to best Fate. Thank you. But no...my friend."
"Friend?"
"Would others have listened instead of attacked?"
"I owed...owe...you my life."
To my astonishment, he smiles. "And I owe you and Sera my soul, it seems."
I nod stiffly and stand, not knowing what to say to that. "I'm ready to go back when you are."
My eyes dazzle with amber and green. The next words I hear are Hugo's.
"It's over."