Searching For the Idols

The first place they went was the Gob's Hideout. Virginia remembered that the merchant had let his desire control him, so she figured it would be fitting for the Guardian of Desire to be found in such a place. Landing Lombardia, the team went inside. Both Jet and Virginia led them through the corridors to a room with weak floors. They tiptoed over the lose boards, and arrived at an area where they would need to jump. Although Virginia could fly upwards and get there, Jet was forced to carry both Clive and Gallows on his back again. After that, they had to rest, because the boy had gotten a severe injury from trying to pick up the Baskar Priest. His beloved then had to care for his wounds with some Heal Berries and her magic.

Once Jet had felt better, and finished muttering about what a pain in the rear Gallows was, they went up the ladder to the attic. There, they located the Guardian of Desire, Luceid. Taking the Wolf Idol with them, the team left the building, knowing that they would have to search out the others as well now.

"I think the best idea would be to split up," Virginia stated, "Clive and Gallows, take Lombardia to look for Justine. I have very little idea where he might be. I'll carry Jet around using my wings to look for Zephyr. I heard a rumor in Little Rock about Hope being trapped in an ABBYS, so I think I can locate it on my own. We meet back at Humphrey's Peak when we're all finished with searching for the Guardian Idols."

Virginia extended her wings, grabbed Jet, and flew off. Gallows and Clive went back onto Lombardia to begin their mission. Although not minding the fact that he would be away from the punk for a little while, Gallows was awfully suspicious of their motives. Were they going to go somewhere else and have a little fun as they searched for Zephyr all over Filgaia? Would they even search at all since they were alone with one another? But when he related the questions to Clive, all he was told was that he was a major pervert.

* * *

"How's this Jet, are you comfortable?" asked Virginia. She didn't want him to feel any pain while they were traveling along the road. He nodded, to tell her that he was ok. In fact, Jet was more than ok, he was alone with Virginia for the first time since the Nidhogg incident. And they were traveling by her wings, he liked doing that. For when they flew across the sky, they were able to hold one another, and feel their partner was close. Even before confessing their love, they had both enjoyed this more than anything else.

He inquired, "So where is this ABBYS your grandfather told you about when we were in Little Rock? All you said was it is a giant mirror that connects to a strange dimension. And what's in this thing, you never told me that either? Or does your grandpa not know anything himself?" Jet looked at her, and saw her give him a little smile. Nothing seemed to make her upset, it was almost as if Virginia had no ability to feel pain and sorrow. But that was not true, certainly her mother's death and the fact that she couldn't go home had given her more sorrow than it was worth. He well remembered the nights she woke up from her sleep, crying over her situation. And how he would always be there for her to turn too, even though he didn't have the answers. Usually, she would tell Jet what was going on, and feel comfort in getting it off her chest.

She looked strait ahead. "It's beyond that mountain range. But no one knows much about it, other than you can leave at the tenth level. If someone were to continue onwards, there's no other way back up. I think you can get out with teleportation items such as an Exodus Orb, but I have no idea where to get one. I guess we'll have to find the way out, or pray that we can find Hope on the first ten levels of that dungeon."

They landed in front of it, and walked in. Sure enough, there was no way up once they went to the second level. But neither was scared, they both held their ground and prepared to fight as hard as they could against the monsters. Which, I might add, turned out to be babies and pushovers for the two Drifters.

But on the tenth level, it all changed. A large creature ambushed them, with the ability to counter any attack they made with a Light spell on the whole group. Virginia and Jet both added Light Ward to their available Personal Skills, Jet's being a natural ability while Virginia had a Light Ring on Celsidue, so there was no way the beast could hit them. That gave them time to play around with their skills, try some new things, as well as use their Airget-Type techniques. So after using the Airget-Beam and Airget-Cannon, the duo both fired off their Gatling at the monster. That was too much for it, and the creature began to explode.

Left behind after its defeat was the Dragon Idol, Zephyr's prison. And the teleporter to the top was right ahead of them. Taking it, the two of them left the ABBYS behind forever. Heck, no one wants to live that through again. But curiosity got the better of them, the two vowed to come back again with an Exodus Orb once things had settled down. Maybe there was some even more valuable treasure deeper down.

* * *

"We did it Clive," Virginia called out, "We found Zephyr inside the ABBYS. So, did you two manage to locate Justine?" Clive then produced the Lion Idol at the same time Virginia pulled out the Dragon Idol. It appeared as though they'd had a tough time though, Gallows seemed haggard and Clive had a small cut on his lip. Catherine had apparently been able to fix the two of them up, and judging from the look of the small heart print blanket that seemed to belong to a doll that was on his wounded arm, Kaitlyn was helping too.

"It was on an island that Lombardia was unable to land on. We had to go through the Gemstone Cave once more, to a place where it had another exit. We missed it because it was behind a weak wall and we were too busy looking for Maya. But the monsters were so difficult to fight, and faster than both of us, we had a few problems. Our wounds are not bad though, and we already have recovered as best as we are able to. So, shall we all go to the Fallen Sanctuary now?" asked Clive, moving his glasses up and down.

They flew there right away. Then, they went to the top. Just as before, when they got to the area with the shrines, the Ark Scepters began to react. Virginia could feel the four High Guardians, taking note of their emotions. Raftina Guardian of Love said, *Pure hearted girl, take my powers and use them to save our world from this evil. Always remain true to yourself, and never let your heart be swayed by the evil forces.*

*Trust in yourself boy,* Zephyr spoke to Jet, *Your powers make you the hope for the future of this planet. Never leave the girl's side, for you must work together in order to save the world we know and love.*

*Your strength comes from your great desire, young priest. You wish for freedom, going to great lengths to get it. I love it when a human can find such power within himself or herself. Now then, we must make haste, use my powers to fight off this new force of wickedness to Filgaia,* Luceid told Gallows.

Justine spoke last to Clive. He said, *I can feel your courage, you have it in abundance, especially when it comes to protecting the ones you care about. You fight, with the strength that comes from this courage, so that your wife and daughter can have a future. Now, go onwards, towards a brighter tomorrow.*

The Mediums descended towards their chosen avatars, like in the old legend. Everyone knew that the Guardian Lords only went with people who had strong emotions, and they had chosen well. But she wondered one thing, why didn't they fight the team? Usually, Guardians had chosen wielders by showing their might and testing their new masters. 'I guess they didn't feel like it. Or the situation is too urgent to warrant fighting. Or it could be my Shaman powers and Filgaian powers are just a sign that they need to help me out. I don't know now. And I don't care either, let's just get on with this so we can live in peace.'

- - - -

Teefa's Last Word…

Due to the newly explained ff.net guidelines, there will be no more bantering between me and Sky. But I will still be here to give you important notes. Well, how'd ya like Kaitlyn's little gesture? Thought she'd do something like that if her daddy was injured. Ok, next up on the list is the annoying history section. I really thought that was such a dumb dungeon. Mostly due to the confusion in the timeline. I mean, no war can go on that long (unless it was on and off), and I think that things from 300 years ago wouldn't be that dead and buried. That's why all wars in games end a millennia before. So I have a revised timeline to show you.