Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Cloud 2 and never will.
Chapter 2: A Stranger, A Hero
Max stood in the clearing. He awaited the pain that would soon precede his death. But that pain never came. After about two seconds, he opened his eyes, putting his hands down.
"What the..." He turned toward Monica. She stood there, mouth agape. Soon he discovered why.
The arrows simply hung there, suspended in mid-air. Just before reaching Max, they had suddenly stopped in mid-flight. They heard murmuring. The soldiers perched on the branches were baffled. This all happened within a matter of a seconds. Then they heard a voice.
"Run, now!"
Max immediately caught on, and grabbing Monica's hand, rushed out of the clearing. No sooner had they left, that they heard a high-pitched whirring sound, and, a moment later, a tremendous explosion. It was so earth-shaking, it sent Max and Monica fly through the air, and crashing hard on the dirt ground of the forest, stunned.
Max, who was the first to recover, tried standing up, but felt a searing pain the moment he stepped on his left foot. It wasn't broken, he quickly decided, but sprained badly. Monica stirred beside him. She seemed to be okay. Now, they both turned to the clearing, which caused their jaws to drop to the ground.
It was utterly filled with smoke. Dark, black, thick, it was rolling over itself to desperately escape the confined space of the clearing. Any small holes it found in the canopy, in the trees, it just surged through, trying to find a way out of the thick branches.
Both boy and girl simply stood there watching, unable to speak for the next few moments, as they watched the smoke gradually clearing from the forest. When it finally did, they saw a scene of utter destruction. There was not even a trace of the soldiers or the trees they had been on. Everything within a 100-yard radius of the explosion had been turned to dust. The ground was scorched black, with small fires burning anything they could touch. Finally, rustling in the branches above them broke the deathly silence. A shadowy figure suddenly dropped out of them. Max saw his long sword, and, on instinct, drew his wrench and gun, though he seemed to be friendly enough.
He was tall, about 6'3", Max guessed. He had dirty blonde hair, and a young face. He couldn't have been older than 18 or 19. His eyes were blue-green, with a hazel lining on his pupils. He wore a black padded shirt, and Max could tell he was wearing a breastplate under it. He wore metal gloves, and had a small buckler conveniently attached to his left wrist. On his left flank, he wore a long sword in a leather sheath. On the sheath was a silver inscription which read: Φονιάς δαιμÏνων. He wore brown boots made out of deer hide. But the item that particularly drew their attention was on his belt. It was very ordinary looking, except on the buckle. There attached a large sparkling white stone. Their first instincts were a diamond. But it couldn't have been. They had never seen a diamond like that before. It shined dazzlingly in the sun. Suddenly, it began to glow with a blinding light. Max and Monica put their hands up, shielding their eyes. But something else drew their attention. On their own bodies, their Atlamillias began to glow. This only happened before when they had traveled back and forth through time. And this was certainly not what was happening now. It was reacting to this stranger's stone.
His face was very serious. "Let's go." That was all he said before passing the two and walking toward the entrance of the forest. Max and Monica stared at each other with stunned faces. They had a thousand questions for him, some of them being "Who the hell are you?" and "What is that thing around your belt?" But they followed him without question. Whatever he wanted, it seemed important. He also possessed a great power. His destruction of the clearing had proved that.
But Max couldn't walk very well, and it didn't seem that this stranger would stop for the world. He allowed Monica to grasp him and help him trot along. He blushed as she put her arm around his neck and he rested his head on her shoulder.
Meanwhile, the stranger in front of them turned back. The Red Atlamillia Stone has chosen him? How pitiful. But his heart and will shine with such light...maybe this is the reason he defeated Griffon. He turned back around and seemed to focus all his attention to walking out of the forest, with Max and Monica following him from behind. Soon, they were out at the Sindain Station, in front of the entrance to the woods.
As the boy and girl walked out of the forest, this mysterious teenager turned to face them.
"I think I owe you an explanation."
"You think?" Max asked ecstatically.
"My name is Alan. I followed you here to Sindain this morning-obviously you didn't notice me. You two are the holders of the two Atlamillia, correct?"
"Yes." Monica this time stepped forward, responding bravely. "And what about you? How do you know all this? And what is that object around your belt?" She pointed.
He smiled, a sort of grin. It was the first time since they met him since they saw one play across his face.
"Those are all good questions. Many days ago, I was paid a visit by someone from the deep future, even further away than Monica's time." She was stunned that he knew her name. But she allowed him to continue.
"The name was Sage Crest, I believe. It was from a future where Emperor Griffon ruled. After his defeat by you, a few days ago, you two were supposed to be killed. That was to happen today. Or at least, it was." Again, that grin came across his face. "But, she told me to save you. So, I did, using the power of the legendary Original Atlamillia stone."
"What?" Monica seemed stunned, while Max just looked plain confused. "How did you find that?"
He laughed dryly. "Find? You don't find the Atlamillia. They find you. I was chosen by this one during my early childhood. The last possessor, a young boy named Toan, had died several millenniums ago. All this time, the stones had lain dormant. At least, until Emperor Griffon came to be."
"Wait a minute." There were more questions ready to gush from the girl, and Alan braced for it.
"If you know all about Emperor Griffon, why didn't you help us defeat him?"
"That was not my task. The space-time continuum is a very fragile thing. It is tampered with enough without me changing it even more. But, this is my task, my duty. My mission."
"What is?"
"Emperor Griffon will return, sooner than you think," he said gravely. "Those were his henchmen in the forest. His energy is gathering. You'll feel it soon enough. Before long, he will return, and we must stop him."
"Are you serious?" Max asked. "We just killed the bastard!"
"I know. But this time, I'll help." He drew his sword. It had the same inscription as his sheath did engraved deeply into it. It was glowing a dim blue.
"What do those symbols mean?" Max asked, pointing to the inscription.
"Oh, this? It means 'Demon Slayer' in the ancient text. It is a powerful weapon forged by the gods themselves. Long ago, it was sent to the Earth when a great evil threatened it. Occasionally, it returns when it senses a new evil arising. This would be one of those times."
"And you have it because...?"
"Because, I am the possessor of the Original Atlamillia Stone. This is the person it chooses, to help him or her on their quest."
They seemed to be satisfied enough, because neither of them spoke anymore. An awkward silence grew between the three, until Alan finally broke it.
"I, uh, kind of noticed I was interrupting something," he said rather nervously. "Before I intervened. I'll just go wait outside Sindain. Come meet me when you are ready."
So he left, leaving the two of them alone, once again, at the entrance of the Rainbow Butterfly Woods.
A/N: So, I hope you liked it. I'll start writing Chapter Three soon, as soon as I update my other story. Please, review! Review, review, review! I feed of those reviews!