Chapter 7 :: Alice and Yuan
"I don't know if they just made fools of themselves or if they were being serious," Solstice said."Really, Lady Enigma. We need a better theme song," Yuan, the younger one said.
"It matters not. This time, that crystal is ours," Alice said. Twelve soldiers of the Enigma's Ghosts surrounded them. "Fearful Raven."
"I am a better match for that sorceress than all of you," Solstice said. Alice's more powerful dark magic overshadowed the attack that Yuan used tenfold. On hitting Martel, Kratos, and Mithos, it pinned them to the ground.
"Mithos... try summoning Sylph," Martel urged.
"I call upon the guardians of the heavens! Come Sylph..." Mithos said, before passing out.
"Eclipse!" Yuan called, creating a shield around him.
"Solar Eclipse!" Alice shouted, opening a portal to the abyss and casting the Sylph summon within.
"Thanks for distracting them, Mithos," Solstice said. In the moment the two had focused their attention on defending against Sylph, Solstice changed into his most powerful dragon form.
"A dragon, how amusing," Alice said. "Yuan, take care of them. Your skills are not developed enough for this kind of beast."
"Horus' Windstorm!" Solstice flapped his wings to create a powerful torrent of wind, smashing into Alice. She planted her scythe into the ground and held firm as the gale blew past her.
"Shadow's Terror!" Alice held one hand out to Solstice, and a black magic seal appeared on it. Like a fisherman whipping a rod back, Alice instantly retracted her hand as a light streamed from Solstice's body into her hand. Solstice fell out of his dragon form to join the others. Alice held a shimmering turquoise crystal in her hand, the essence that allowed Solstice to become a dragon. The airship of the Enigma's Ghosts appeared from its invisibility spell and took on the prisoners. "Argh. I would have died back there had it not been for their condition after the Sylph battle."
---------------------------------------------------------
Mithos...you have grown strong...
"You again?" Mithos said, irritated that he had fallen into a dream state. The shadowy figure from before now possessed a pair of red glowing eyes. "Tell me. What's your name?"
Erebus, a trapped soul from the darkness. As you grow strong, so too does the crystal. You must never forget that...
---------------------------------------------------------
"It's no good," Mithos heard Solstice say while he had his eyes closed. He awakened to find himself in a prison cell with Kratos and Solstice. However, they saw no trace of Martel.
"Where's Martel?" Mithos asked.
"Yuan took her. Something about tending her injuries," Solstice replied. "Don't worry, I think she'll be safe."
"Any progress, Solstice?" Kratos said.
"None. That witch Alice must have stolen my dragon's essence. In my current state, I am trapped as an old man," explained he. The door opened and Yuan entered, flanked by two soldiers.
"Follow me, all of you," Yuan instructed. This building appeared to be some kind of military base, filled with all sorts of gadgets. While he opened the door to the cell, the others with him stood ready in case any of them tried a jailbreak. They went down a few hallways until they got to a circular room with a large window. Embedded in the floor was a levitating cube shaped machine. Miles and miles of desert stretched as far as the eye could see from the base. "As you now know, any escape into the Triet Desert would be suicide. Within Fortress Enigma, we have a device known as an air conditioner that shields us from the blazing sun in the day and the chilling cold at night." He pointed to the strange machine in the floor.
They came to the end of the room where a few soldiers were playing cards. Upon seeing Yuan, all of them stood up at attention.
"Lord Yuan! We didn't know you were here," a soldier said hastily. Yuan grinned, then took a look at the soldier's cards.
"You shouldn't play so conservatively. Take some risks," he said, cutting the soldier off.
"You won't reprimand him?" Kratos asked.
"Of course not. Our soldiers work long shifts, mainly doing nothing but waiting around bored to tears. Lady Enigma may not agree, but they need to relax once in a while," he answered. Yuan showed them to a room deep within the base protected by two red robed guards, Alice's best soldiers. They opened the door to let the group into the base's control room. On the wall hung a large painting depicting the city of Asgard before the war started.
"Oh, Mithos. They've brought you," Martel said. Her arm was still bandaged but she was sitting at a table just finishing her meal.
"Martel, you're okay!" Mithos exclaimed, running up and giving his sister a hug.
"I'm fine. Yuan had one of his doctors heal me," Martel replied.
"Enjoying yourselves?" Alice said, entering from her study next door. Around her neck was the crystal she acquired from Solstice.
"You might be wondering why we haven't taken Cornelius's crystal from you yet," Yuan said.
"Cornelius's crystal? Is that where this thing came from?" Mithos asked.
"I am also wondering what your relation to Delthis' main Desian armies are," Kratos inquired.
"One question at a time. We weren't able to remove the crystal that Admiral Cornelius created. If any of us attempted to touch it, we would be burned by some kind of powerful light," Yuan explained.
"Not even my shadow magic could shield us from your crystal's power," Alice said.
"Secondly, we are a faction within Delthis. Officially, we are under Lord Kepler's command, but he has pretty much given us free reign to do as we please. Macerdon has portrayed us as terrorists in their propaganda, but in truth, we are a network of guerillas working to end this war," Yuan said. "The fall of Asgard and the loss of Macerdon's air power has relieved much of the pressure on us. However, we are still losing the fight. As we speak..."
"Lady Enigma! Fortress tal sol avia deri Lord Altair arthos," a voice said over the intercom.
"Yuan, get them below," Alice ordered sternly. She accompanied them to the circular room but turned down another corridor. The soldiers that were playing cards now stood at facing the door with their muskets ready as if they expected someone to barge in.