Disclaimer: My head is buzzing with ideas, I can't figure out how to
pit them in the story. NOT FUNNY! Oh yeah! Ando will tell one er two of
the chapter at some point in this story, maybe Sugano will, but I'm not
sure. And the preview wasn't the real battle against Falceon, I won't tell
you what it really is but I will say a certain someone (won't say) gets
some sweet armor. Guess who it is. It ain't Dias or Sugano, that leaves
you with two options. (Oooo. I'm evil. ~^_) And...I meant to have it where
the gang went to Lacour and asked permission for a boat to themselves so
they could go to the Cave of Trials. And now they're in Hilton, I
think...yeah, read on. Ooooooo god there's a lot here. Anyway, I don't
remember the cave of trials all that well, so forgive me if I do something
funky.
~*~Claude~*~
I was first to wake up among the three. I sat up right in bed and looked at my side. There lies the Eternal Sphere. I decided to kill time by practicing with my sword. I grabbed it and walked outside. It was early morning so no one was out there at the moment. I held my sword out in front of me and took a deep breath. After a few moments I sliced through the sir and began to swing my sword, left and right, up and down. I did this for about five minutes, after which I was tired, but I kept going. I held my sword up vertically, blade facing the water. I closed my eyes and concentrated on my newest power. What it looked like, how it felt.
"Spirit of Damoin, lend me your strength." I said quietly to my sword. It lit turquoise and I pointed it out to sea. Then a turquoise beam flew from my sword and disrupted the water. Shortly after I felt my energy slip. This is what I want to control. With each second it got worse. I closed my eyes and tried not to collapse. I was doing well for a second but then I began to shake violently. I clutched my sword with both hands as if it were holding me up. Finally I let my breath out and cancelled the beam. I fell to my knees, breathing heavily. Beads of sweat were poring down my face. I took deep breath and forced myself to stand up. I slowly walked back in the inn. As I got into the lobby I dropped my sword and collapsed in a chair. I stared at the ceiling, still breathing heavy. It might take a while to be able to control that power. I closed my eyes and let go of every thought. I was just about to fall asleep when Rena walked in. She saw me with my sword on the floor and walked over.
"What's wrong?" She asked as she sat down. I sighed a little, as I was still tired.
"Nothing." I said.
"What were you doing with your sword?"
"Practicing." Rena must have seen that I was tired because she fell silent. She looked out the window and sighed. Soon we were all ready to head for the cave. We walked to the harbor to get on the boat. Ando and Sugano were talking, Leon and Hikeru were watching the water, Noel was enjoying the scenery. I was standing near the back of the boat where there was hardly anyone there. I stared out at sea, watching the sun reflect off the waves. I looked down and leaned on the rail. I closed my eyes and thought of the best way of how I would be able to control my newest power. I knew it would be difficult, but it some how also seemed easy. I heard footsteps from behind and I turned around. I saw a man stand a short distance away from me. He looked familiar to me. Then it hit me. He was that one who punched me on our last ship ride. What was he doing here? This boat was to be for us and no one else. I looked toward the front of the boat to see if I could see someone, then I heard the man speak. I looked back at him. I couldn't understand what he had just said. He shifted his eyes to look at me. He had a cold, blank look, but I could tell he was up to something.
"Wh-what?" I asked. A smirk crept along the mans face and he lunged at me. I fell and hit the floor as held a knife to my throat.
"Onky mo skaton?" He said. It obviously wasn't English.
"Uh, what?" I asked. He glared at my and pressed the knife closer.
"Ranty ak tun." He said as I saw Noel out of the corner of my eye. A scared expression dawned on his face.
"What's going on?" He asked stepping closer. The man whipped around, still with the knife at my neck.
"KUSAN!!" He shouted. Soon, two men came and one of them knocked Noel unconscious. They dragged him along the floor and sat him up against the wall. The man turned back to me and I could see the anger flaring in his eyes.
"Monky atosku wan?" One of the men said.
"Hikan." The man nodded and the other two walked off. The man grabbed me by the shirt and held me up. I looked back at Noel who was not alone, Rena was at his side. Wise of those guys to put Noel in the shadows.
"Heal." I saw her whisper. The man was about to turn around but I got his attention back to me.
"What do you want with me?" I asked trying to beak free.
"I want, isa to do casen favor." He English wasn't very good. He put his knife to my stomach and his face changed from an evil smile to raging anger. "And souchan favor is DIE!" He shouted as he shoved the knife through my stomach and threw me over the rail and into the water. The man laughed and ran away. I fell in and felt water rush down my throat. I covered my mouth and broke the surface. I coughed and saw Rena crying out from the back of the ship. Slightly panicked, I began to swim as fast as I could toward the ship. I saw Ando and Sugano come up and Sugano took off his vest and dove in as Ando found a rope and tossed it over. I clutched my stomach and chocked as water hit me in the face. Sugano was getting closer when there was a sound. It sounded like bird, a really high pitch squeak. Just then I was pulled under the waters surface and I saw Sugano dive under, but pulled back up. It was to far down for him to reach. I continued to get dragged into the depths of the water. Suddenly I saw something. It looked like a dragon with metallic blue skin and silver horns. Its eyes were glowing a bright red-orange. The only thing that set it apart from a dragon was that its tail was like a horse's. Then it raised its claw and shaped it into a needle, then lashed out at me. I braced myself for the oncoming impact, and when it hit, I didn't feel pain, but rather I felt my wounds being healed. The creature had hit my wound that the man had given me. It wasn't just healing my wounds, but my soul as well. Then just as it begun, it ended. I looked at the creature, it looked back.
"Forgive me if this disturbs you." It said. It was psychic, how often do you come across that? Then without warning everything was spinning. It was like a tunnel in the water as it went up and down, left to right. Then it stopped so suddenly I felt like I had hit a brick wall. I looked around and was horrified. I saw huge monsters lashing out at anyone they could find, people falling wounded or dead. It was Expel. I felt a surge through my body as I saw an innocent child get stabbed through the heart by a creature. Everything was going up in flames, crumbling, dying, right before my eyes. Then, I saw something I'll never forget. I saw in the distance someone lying on the ground with someone over them. I got closer and it was me, lying on the ground with Rena crying. It seemed like I was dying, or dead. Then a shadow arose from the darkness and held a sharp weapon in their hand. Rena turned around and cried out. The person lashed out and grabbed Rena. It was Falceon. He held Rena in his hand and held his scythe high. He threw it down on my body and there was a bright flash. When it subsided, there was darkness. All around me. What had I just seen? The future? It can't be. It's not possible! I shuddered as a cold wind went by. I turned around and saw the same dragon as before.
"Do you know what you just saw?" It asked.
"The, future?" I said. It nodded. My eyes widened.
"This is the future, only if you don't stop Falceon." It said. Now it makes sense.
"So..if we don't do something to stop him, that'll be the result of Expel?" The dragon nodded.
"I know I have left you with little information, but I must go now." With that, the dragon disappeared. Then there was a wave that was heading right for the ship, and I was in it. It hit the ship and I fell to the floor. When the water flowed back into the sea, Rena was at my side in an instant.
"Claude, are you o-kay?" She asked. I didn't answer. I stood up and looked back at the water. Ando and Sugano walked over and looked at me.
"What happened?" Sugano asked me. Again, I didn't reply. I couldn't reply. I turned around and began to walk towards the front of the ship, but I felt so weak that I fell to my knees. Rena knelt beside my and began to heal me. Once she was done I slowly stood up and stared at the floor. Ando walked in front of me.
"Can you say what happened?" He asked.
"I..." I began. I shook my head slightly and continued to stare.
"We're almost at our destination!" A sailor called out. "Be sure you have everything together now." We stood there for a moment then got ready to get off. We got off the boat and onto the island covered in sand. I looked around and watched tiny animals scurry towards the other side of the small mountain.
"So this is it?" Ando asked looking around.
"Yeah." Ashton said as he sighed.
"We'll wait here until you come back." The sailor said. We acknowledged this and followed Ashton and Dias. We walked across the shifting sands for about five minutes before we reached the entrance. I looked upon the pyramid structure. It looked like any other ruin. I didn't see how it could be dangerous. Dias stepped forward and paused a moment.
"So, what level did we leave from?" Ashton asked.
"The eleventh level." Dias replied and motioned us to follow. We entered the ruins and as we did there was a feeling that hit you, like something's wrong. I could feel it in my bones that there was an evil presence. I looked around and took in what was around me. It was like an ancient temple of some sort. Dias walked forward and started down the hall.
"C'mon." Ashton motioned with his hand to follow them. We followed Dias and Ashton down a hall passing many doors on the way. There weren't many monsters lurking around. Dias and Ashton must have taken care of'em. The two lead us to a door with a switch next to it. They walk through and so do we. We walk down a flight of stairs that leads to a room with a plaque by the wall. It said something about a story of people in love. I couldn't read the whole thing because we continued on down to the next level. When we stepped down to level three, I think, there was a small monster crawling around. When it saw us it turned around and crawled into the shadows.
"We'd better hurry." Dias said continuing to the next level.
"Why?" I asked.
"When those guys run off, they tend to get a bigger creature." Dias said as he continued walking. I followed. We walked through a door and down another set of stairs. We came to a hall that led to a large room with three doors in front of us. Dias and Ashton turned left and went that way. We followed.
"The enemy gets rougher as we go down, so keep your guard up as we go to the next level." Dias said. I turned around to face him, walking backwards.
"It's not like any of'em attacked us yet." I said. Dias was about to say something but the next thing I new I was facing the wall. I looked around and didn't see anyone. Then Dias came through the wall followed by Ashton. O-kay...either they're able to walk through walls, or that's just how it is.
"Watch where you're going." He said with a small smirk. Everyone followed and I stood there, staring at Dias blankly.
"Ha ha, very funny." I mumbled as I followed behind Leon and Hikeru. We went down yet another set of stairs and came to another temple like room. This place didn't seem dangerous. I mean, what's so bad about this? It actually seems...peaceful. Really. But then I may just be looking at the physical appearance. Whatever the matter, let's just move on. There were a few monsters popping up here and there but they were weak. We walked down to the next level and went left and right. How can Dias and Ashton remember all of this? Turn left here, turn right there, it's like remembering an essay that your geography teacher wrote. Then again Dias did write all write this down. As we came to another set of stairs Sugano stopped for a moment.
"What's with all of these stairs?" He asked. I looked back at him.
"Well what do you expect? Elevators?" I asked. Sugano nodded and kept walking. I gave a small laugh and followed. (There's too much following doncha think?) The next room was nothing interesting, cept for the ruby in the middle of the room. We walked by and went through the door. We went down an elevator and went to the next level...ok so we didn't exactly go down in an elevator. I think we're at level, nine, now. We walk into a room with a coffin sealed.
"This is the sealed coffin." Leon says as he walks up to it.
"How'd you know?" Precis asked.
"I've read about this from Dias' notes."
"We need to move." Dias said as he walked trough a doorway. We looked at each other and walked down, you guessed it...stairs. Bet that's the last thing you would've thought of. Not. When we get down there we find a panel on the floor with two green squares. Dias walks on them and one of the doors open.
"Why did that door just open?" I asked.
"Why did this place get here?" Dias asked as he went through the door. Uh huh, ok, whatever. We come to a room that's flashing yellow, on and off. Do they do this for lighting or cause the creatures know what disco is? I walked in and the second I did I felt life draining from me. It was so sudden that I began to get dizzy and fell to my knees. Sugano was first to react and pulled my out. I panted and slowly stood up.
"W-what's with that?" I ask.
"It seems that this is the deadliest level in the cave. If I remember what the plaque said the yellow slowly drain your life and the red drain your life faster." Dias said as he looked in the room. Oh great, I always wanted to walk around in a place where you could easily die. We all walk in and make our way through to the end of the draining rooms. Rena casts a quick Fairy Heal and we continued. We found a room with a treasure chest on the other side. It's been emptied already, so we ignore it. We went down the red carpet and came to a tented room. It wasn't a goldenrod color but it was more of a blue-gray. We walked down a hall, like so many other times, and there was a symbol at the other end of the hall. Dias and Ashton turned to a door and pushed on it, but it wouldn't move.
"You are not worthy of passing." Came a voice as it echoed. What was it talking about? Dias looks around then tries it again. The same thing.
"I don't get it." Ashton said.
"Whoa, wait, I thought you were ready for the next level." Ando said walking up to Ashton.
"When we got here we needed a break so we escaped." Ashton explained.
"How would you escape here?" Rena asked. Ashton pointed to the symbol on the floor.
"It's like those things in Fienal." He said. Dias looked up then looked at me.
"Claude, you have to go." I looked at him.
"What?" I asked.
"You and someone else have to go to the next level."
"Why me?"
"Because you're gifted with the elements." He said. Now it makes sense.
"So...who do I go with?" I asked.
"I'll go with you." Rena piped up. I looked at her and back at Dias. He nodded and I walked towards the door.
"This level is going to be hard for just two people." Ashton said. "Believe me."
"I know." I said. Rena stood by me and the others backed off. The door opened slowly and I turned around.
"Be careful." Ando said. I nodded and walked down another red carpet, followed by Rena. As we reached the bottom of the stairs the door slammed shut. I whipped around and looked back at it. I looked forward. I could already tell that this is going to put my powers to the limit. As there was a low growl from a monster nearby Rena gasped my arm. I glanced at her then back at the source of the sound. Then there was glowing eyes in the shadows and I walked toward it while Rena backed off a little. The monster lunged at me and I dodged and cut it in the back. It howled and turned to slash me. It missed and I did Mirror Slice. The creature fell and grunted. I looked ahead then back at Rena.
This won't be easy." I say.
"I know." She said walking up to me. "Let's just do our best." I agreed and walked forward. There was a light at the other end of the room. Rena and me looked at each other and walked into the room. As we went in there was a gust of air and the next second there was a huge red bird in front of us.
"What the." I said.
"I live eternal. Nature rules me not. Though you've overcome mortals, think you can overcome gods? If you are worthy of the holy sword, tis I who shall see." It said. I drew my sword and prepared for a long battle. Somehow, in some way, we must manage tom pull through.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Divine Soul: I'm really sorry for the delay; I can only get on the computer on weekends and Fridays. LIFE WILL NEVER BE FAIR!! Anyway, I'll put the next chapter up as soon as I can. If anyone can help, please e-mail me concerning that.
~*~Claude~*~
I was first to wake up among the three. I sat up right in bed and looked at my side. There lies the Eternal Sphere. I decided to kill time by practicing with my sword. I grabbed it and walked outside. It was early morning so no one was out there at the moment. I held my sword out in front of me and took a deep breath. After a few moments I sliced through the sir and began to swing my sword, left and right, up and down. I did this for about five minutes, after which I was tired, but I kept going. I held my sword up vertically, blade facing the water. I closed my eyes and concentrated on my newest power. What it looked like, how it felt.
"Spirit of Damoin, lend me your strength." I said quietly to my sword. It lit turquoise and I pointed it out to sea. Then a turquoise beam flew from my sword and disrupted the water. Shortly after I felt my energy slip. This is what I want to control. With each second it got worse. I closed my eyes and tried not to collapse. I was doing well for a second but then I began to shake violently. I clutched my sword with both hands as if it were holding me up. Finally I let my breath out and cancelled the beam. I fell to my knees, breathing heavily. Beads of sweat were poring down my face. I took deep breath and forced myself to stand up. I slowly walked back in the inn. As I got into the lobby I dropped my sword and collapsed in a chair. I stared at the ceiling, still breathing heavy. It might take a while to be able to control that power. I closed my eyes and let go of every thought. I was just about to fall asleep when Rena walked in. She saw me with my sword on the floor and walked over.
"What's wrong?" She asked as she sat down. I sighed a little, as I was still tired.
"Nothing." I said.
"What were you doing with your sword?"
"Practicing." Rena must have seen that I was tired because she fell silent. She looked out the window and sighed. Soon we were all ready to head for the cave. We walked to the harbor to get on the boat. Ando and Sugano were talking, Leon and Hikeru were watching the water, Noel was enjoying the scenery. I was standing near the back of the boat where there was hardly anyone there. I stared out at sea, watching the sun reflect off the waves. I looked down and leaned on the rail. I closed my eyes and thought of the best way of how I would be able to control my newest power. I knew it would be difficult, but it some how also seemed easy. I heard footsteps from behind and I turned around. I saw a man stand a short distance away from me. He looked familiar to me. Then it hit me. He was that one who punched me on our last ship ride. What was he doing here? This boat was to be for us and no one else. I looked toward the front of the boat to see if I could see someone, then I heard the man speak. I looked back at him. I couldn't understand what he had just said. He shifted his eyes to look at me. He had a cold, blank look, but I could tell he was up to something.
"Wh-what?" I asked. A smirk crept along the mans face and he lunged at me. I fell and hit the floor as held a knife to my throat.
"Onky mo skaton?" He said. It obviously wasn't English.
"Uh, what?" I asked. He glared at my and pressed the knife closer.
"Ranty ak tun." He said as I saw Noel out of the corner of my eye. A scared expression dawned on his face.
"What's going on?" He asked stepping closer. The man whipped around, still with the knife at my neck.
"KUSAN!!" He shouted. Soon, two men came and one of them knocked Noel unconscious. They dragged him along the floor and sat him up against the wall. The man turned back to me and I could see the anger flaring in his eyes.
"Monky atosku wan?" One of the men said.
"Hikan." The man nodded and the other two walked off. The man grabbed me by the shirt and held me up. I looked back at Noel who was not alone, Rena was at his side. Wise of those guys to put Noel in the shadows.
"Heal." I saw her whisper. The man was about to turn around but I got his attention back to me.
"What do you want with me?" I asked trying to beak free.
"I want, isa to do casen favor." He English wasn't very good. He put his knife to my stomach and his face changed from an evil smile to raging anger. "And souchan favor is DIE!" He shouted as he shoved the knife through my stomach and threw me over the rail and into the water. The man laughed and ran away. I fell in and felt water rush down my throat. I covered my mouth and broke the surface. I coughed and saw Rena crying out from the back of the ship. Slightly panicked, I began to swim as fast as I could toward the ship. I saw Ando and Sugano come up and Sugano took off his vest and dove in as Ando found a rope and tossed it over. I clutched my stomach and chocked as water hit me in the face. Sugano was getting closer when there was a sound. It sounded like bird, a really high pitch squeak. Just then I was pulled under the waters surface and I saw Sugano dive under, but pulled back up. It was to far down for him to reach. I continued to get dragged into the depths of the water. Suddenly I saw something. It looked like a dragon with metallic blue skin and silver horns. Its eyes were glowing a bright red-orange. The only thing that set it apart from a dragon was that its tail was like a horse's. Then it raised its claw and shaped it into a needle, then lashed out at me. I braced myself for the oncoming impact, and when it hit, I didn't feel pain, but rather I felt my wounds being healed. The creature had hit my wound that the man had given me. It wasn't just healing my wounds, but my soul as well. Then just as it begun, it ended. I looked at the creature, it looked back.
"Forgive me if this disturbs you." It said. It was psychic, how often do you come across that? Then without warning everything was spinning. It was like a tunnel in the water as it went up and down, left to right. Then it stopped so suddenly I felt like I had hit a brick wall. I looked around and was horrified. I saw huge monsters lashing out at anyone they could find, people falling wounded or dead. It was Expel. I felt a surge through my body as I saw an innocent child get stabbed through the heart by a creature. Everything was going up in flames, crumbling, dying, right before my eyes. Then, I saw something I'll never forget. I saw in the distance someone lying on the ground with someone over them. I got closer and it was me, lying on the ground with Rena crying. It seemed like I was dying, or dead. Then a shadow arose from the darkness and held a sharp weapon in their hand. Rena turned around and cried out. The person lashed out and grabbed Rena. It was Falceon. He held Rena in his hand and held his scythe high. He threw it down on my body and there was a bright flash. When it subsided, there was darkness. All around me. What had I just seen? The future? It can't be. It's not possible! I shuddered as a cold wind went by. I turned around and saw the same dragon as before.
"Do you know what you just saw?" It asked.
"The, future?" I said. It nodded. My eyes widened.
"This is the future, only if you don't stop Falceon." It said. Now it makes sense.
"So..if we don't do something to stop him, that'll be the result of Expel?" The dragon nodded.
"I know I have left you with little information, but I must go now." With that, the dragon disappeared. Then there was a wave that was heading right for the ship, and I was in it. It hit the ship and I fell to the floor. When the water flowed back into the sea, Rena was at my side in an instant.
"Claude, are you o-kay?" She asked. I didn't answer. I stood up and looked back at the water. Ando and Sugano walked over and looked at me.
"What happened?" Sugano asked me. Again, I didn't reply. I couldn't reply. I turned around and began to walk towards the front of the ship, but I felt so weak that I fell to my knees. Rena knelt beside my and began to heal me. Once she was done I slowly stood up and stared at the floor. Ando walked in front of me.
"Can you say what happened?" He asked.
"I..." I began. I shook my head slightly and continued to stare.
"We're almost at our destination!" A sailor called out. "Be sure you have everything together now." We stood there for a moment then got ready to get off. We got off the boat and onto the island covered in sand. I looked around and watched tiny animals scurry towards the other side of the small mountain.
"So this is it?" Ando asked looking around.
"Yeah." Ashton said as he sighed.
"We'll wait here until you come back." The sailor said. We acknowledged this and followed Ashton and Dias. We walked across the shifting sands for about five minutes before we reached the entrance. I looked upon the pyramid structure. It looked like any other ruin. I didn't see how it could be dangerous. Dias stepped forward and paused a moment.
"So, what level did we leave from?" Ashton asked.
"The eleventh level." Dias replied and motioned us to follow. We entered the ruins and as we did there was a feeling that hit you, like something's wrong. I could feel it in my bones that there was an evil presence. I looked around and took in what was around me. It was like an ancient temple of some sort. Dias walked forward and started down the hall.
"C'mon." Ashton motioned with his hand to follow them. We followed Dias and Ashton down a hall passing many doors on the way. There weren't many monsters lurking around. Dias and Ashton must have taken care of'em. The two lead us to a door with a switch next to it. They walk through and so do we. We walk down a flight of stairs that leads to a room with a plaque by the wall. It said something about a story of people in love. I couldn't read the whole thing because we continued on down to the next level. When we stepped down to level three, I think, there was a small monster crawling around. When it saw us it turned around and crawled into the shadows.
"We'd better hurry." Dias said continuing to the next level.
"Why?" I asked.
"When those guys run off, they tend to get a bigger creature." Dias said as he continued walking. I followed. We walked through a door and down another set of stairs. We came to a hall that led to a large room with three doors in front of us. Dias and Ashton turned left and went that way. We followed.
"The enemy gets rougher as we go down, so keep your guard up as we go to the next level." Dias said. I turned around to face him, walking backwards.
"It's not like any of'em attacked us yet." I said. Dias was about to say something but the next thing I new I was facing the wall. I looked around and didn't see anyone. Then Dias came through the wall followed by Ashton. O-kay...either they're able to walk through walls, or that's just how it is.
"Watch where you're going." He said with a small smirk. Everyone followed and I stood there, staring at Dias blankly.
"Ha ha, very funny." I mumbled as I followed behind Leon and Hikeru. We went down yet another set of stairs and came to another temple like room. This place didn't seem dangerous. I mean, what's so bad about this? It actually seems...peaceful. Really. But then I may just be looking at the physical appearance. Whatever the matter, let's just move on. There were a few monsters popping up here and there but they were weak. We walked down to the next level and went left and right. How can Dias and Ashton remember all of this? Turn left here, turn right there, it's like remembering an essay that your geography teacher wrote. Then again Dias did write all write this down. As we came to another set of stairs Sugano stopped for a moment.
"What's with all of these stairs?" He asked. I looked back at him.
"Well what do you expect? Elevators?" I asked. Sugano nodded and kept walking. I gave a small laugh and followed. (There's too much following doncha think?) The next room was nothing interesting, cept for the ruby in the middle of the room. We walked by and went through the door. We went down an elevator and went to the next level...ok so we didn't exactly go down in an elevator. I think we're at level, nine, now. We walk into a room with a coffin sealed.
"This is the sealed coffin." Leon says as he walks up to it.
"How'd you know?" Precis asked.
"I've read about this from Dias' notes."
"We need to move." Dias said as he walked trough a doorway. We looked at each other and walked down, you guessed it...stairs. Bet that's the last thing you would've thought of. Not. When we get down there we find a panel on the floor with two green squares. Dias walks on them and one of the doors open.
"Why did that door just open?" I asked.
"Why did this place get here?" Dias asked as he went through the door. Uh huh, ok, whatever. We come to a room that's flashing yellow, on and off. Do they do this for lighting or cause the creatures know what disco is? I walked in and the second I did I felt life draining from me. It was so sudden that I began to get dizzy and fell to my knees. Sugano was first to react and pulled my out. I panted and slowly stood up.
"W-what's with that?" I ask.
"It seems that this is the deadliest level in the cave. If I remember what the plaque said the yellow slowly drain your life and the red drain your life faster." Dias said as he looked in the room. Oh great, I always wanted to walk around in a place where you could easily die. We all walk in and make our way through to the end of the draining rooms. Rena casts a quick Fairy Heal and we continued. We found a room with a treasure chest on the other side. It's been emptied already, so we ignore it. We went down the red carpet and came to a tented room. It wasn't a goldenrod color but it was more of a blue-gray. We walked down a hall, like so many other times, and there was a symbol at the other end of the hall. Dias and Ashton turned to a door and pushed on it, but it wouldn't move.
"You are not worthy of passing." Came a voice as it echoed. What was it talking about? Dias looks around then tries it again. The same thing.
"I don't get it." Ashton said.
"Whoa, wait, I thought you were ready for the next level." Ando said walking up to Ashton.
"When we got here we needed a break so we escaped." Ashton explained.
"How would you escape here?" Rena asked. Ashton pointed to the symbol on the floor.
"It's like those things in Fienal." He said. Dias looked up then looked at me.
"Claude, you have to go." I looked at him.
"What?" I asked.
"You and someone else have to go to the next level."
"Why me?"
"Because you're gifted with the elements." He said. Now it makes sense.
"So...who do I go with?" I asked.
"I'll go with you." Rena piped up. I looked at her and back at Dias. He nodded and I walked towards the door.
"This level is going to be hard for just two people." Ashton said. "Believe me."
"I know." I said. Rena stood by me and the others backed off. The door opened slowly and I turned around.
"Be careful." Ando said. I nodded and walked down another red carpet, followed by Rena. As we reached the bottom of the stairs the door slammed shut. I whipped around and looked back at it. I looked forward. I could already tell that this is going to put my powers to the limit. As there was a low growl from a monster nearby Rena gasped my arm. I glanced at her then back at the source of the sound. Then there was glowing eyes in the shadows and I walked toward it while Rena backed off a little. The monster lunged at me and I dodged and cut it in the back. It howled and turned to slash me. It missed and I did Mirror Slice. The creature fell and grunted. I looked ahead then back at Rena.
This won't be easy." I say.
"I know." She said walking up to me. "Let's just do our best." I agreed and walked forward. There was a light at the other end of the room. Rena and me looked at each other and walked into the room. As we went in there was a gust of air and the next second there was a huge red bird in front of us.
"What the." I said.
"I live eternal. Nature rules me not. Though you've overcome mortals, think you can overcome gods? If you are worthy of the holy sword, tis I who shall see." It said. I drew my sword and prepared for a long battle. Somehow, in some way, we must manage tom pull through.
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Divine Soul: I'm really sorry for the delay; I can only get on the computer on weekends and Fridays. LIFE WILL NEVER BE FAIR!! Anyway, I'll put the next chapter up as soon as I can. If anyone can help, please e-mail me concerning that.