Rudra No Hihou

Return of the Dark Ones

Rem Forest

Riza hummed a little tune as she trekked through the beautiful and lush forest. Four thousand years had done the place some good, the forest now covered much of the Northern Continent's eastern side. The forest was kept trimmed near the city areas, but other than that, it continued to grow and expand. The sounds of the fores, the babbling of the brooks, the entire atmosphere was just so calm and inviting.

And then, she heard it, a rustling in the trees. Probably just some animal wandering through the underbrush, she thought as she wandered onwards, over one of the bridges. She heard splashes of several pairs of feet in the water, but when she looked back... there was nothing there.

"Odd." she said, shrugging and continuing.

More rustling. Getting closer... and closer... AND CLOSER. This gave Riza enough incentive to place her hand on the hilt of her rapier. But she continued to walk onward, but the rustling didn't stop. As she walked, she could have sworn she heard a chatter. It could only belong to one thing in this place...

And that's when she whipped out the blade, and swiped, just in time. A shriek, the sound of a falling body, and a spurt of blood. On the ground now laid a dead monkey with red-orange fur. Riza knew that these guys came in groups... And then, four more burst through the trees, howling and hooting, their claws ready to strike. One leapt at Riza, she ducked, she mouthed something, and the creature burst into flame, shrieking as it burned to death. Two more came at her, leaping on her and began to bite and claw at her and her armor.

"Get OFF of me, you disgusting apes!" she yelled, and thrust forward, throwing one off of her, the second one grabbed hold of her hair. She snarled in pain, and ran the hair-puller through, it shrieked and lay silent. Then, she began to cast a bigger, more potent spell... But her attackers saw that it was futile, and ran off, scared back from whence they came. She stopped the casting, wiped her blade off on the grass, and walked onward.

After a bit of continuing, she reached a burial plot in the forest. She sighed, and went up to the largest central tombstone and plopped a flower in front of it.

"I'm here again, my dearest..." she said, her voice calm and grim. "It seems like I'm gonna be going off on another adventure... may have to save existence again. You know, more of the usual. Goodbye, again, my sweet."

With that, she continued on, and looked back for a moment....

The tombstone read "Garlyle I, 3983-4100". The plot had been made in the spot that the two had run into each other for the first time, when he was on the run from soldiers from the town... or nowadays, the grand city of Babel. That, of course was her next destination. She planned to take the first boat to Ompross she could get on to go find Scion and the others. She was almost out of the forest, when she heard whispering.

"Riza..." it called.

"Wh-who's there?!" she squeaked.

"Riiizaaaaa...." it hissed.

"I don't know who you are, but I'm not afraid of you!" she yelled, turning around. Nothing there. She sighed, and turned around, and then stopped to see a figure standing a few feet away. She knew the person instantly. "G-garlyle! But, you're..."

"Dead, Riza?" he hissed "You're right, I am dead... I need to tell you something important."

"What?" she stammered.

"I.. Hate you, Riza...I always did, still do... hahahaha... Only reason I hung around was 'cuz you were SO hot... Oh yeah, and after awhile, because you were ssssooo good in bed, dearie. Just a cheap little WHORE! Whore whore whore! Ha ha ha ha haaah!"

"Shut... up. You... impostor. I'm not playing your sick game, whoever you are!"

"Well, damn. It appears you're actually smart after all."

"Show your true self! Culgan.. Hauzhen... WHOMEVER!"

'Garlyle' scowled in disgust at the mentioning of Hauzhen.

"Me...? That disgusting, moldy crystal ball?!" he shrieked, very offended.

"Then, WHO ARE YOU?!"

'Garlyle' laughed for a moment, then giggled... That voice changing to a more feminine, menacing tone. He turned black, then expanded upwards, getting much bigger. Finally, the full figure stood. It was a woman... or what resembled a woman. Tall, three large spikes jutting from the back of her head, broad, toothy jaws, red eyes, a mess of tangled black hair... She wore no top, but she did wear a green dress that went down almost to the ground, if nor for those primal, two toed, clawed feet of hers. Her chest wasn't big, but it wasn't small either. Her skin was completely black, and her eyes were small, red and looking straight at Riza.

"Hello, Riza. I am..."

"You are...?"

"Your worst nightmares and fears come true... I am what makes you awaken at night in a cold sweat, I'm the one who gives you the shakes. I am called Phobia. I know what you fear, Riza... Would you like to see what I know? Come and get me, I know you're angry... furious... but oh so frightened, like the little mouse you are. Come to Phobia so she can destroy your entire being..."

Riza was getting sick of Phobia's taunting and teasing. Indeed, she was angry... but Phobia was right.. She was frightened, too. Phobia seemed to ooze fear and nightmares. She thrust her rapier forward, attempting to stab Phobia's belly, pull the sword down and gut her like a fish. But when the blade was just inches from Phobia, Riza couldn't continue, the personification of fear she was stopping Riza in her tracks. And she was smacked backwards by Phobia's large three-fingered hand.

She crashed, right into the tree behind her, jarring her spine and bringing pain to her head. She stood up, and cast a healing spell on herself, just in time, as Phobia cast her own spell, the fabric of the netherworld opened by clawed hands, a pillar of dark energy enveloping Riza. She barely survived that, and healed again. Then, Phobia did something more sinister, a sudden burst of black sludge materializing and hitting Riza... Pollution! And her without a single Purifier.

She tried more to attack with her blade, but oncoming fear distracted her, Phobia now batting her around like a rag doll. Finally, Riza crashed to the ground, barely alive. Fear had overtaken her so much, she couldn't even grab an herb to heal with.

"Time to say goodbye, little one." Phobia laughed, and began to cast a horrific spell, only to have it stopped.... By Malevol himself.

"Phobia, no." he growled "The master said we can't kill them immediately... "

"But, Malevol!" Phobia protested.

"No, Phobia, my dear. We're only supposed to have a little fun with them first. We aren't supposed to kill them for at least another week!"

"Alright, but you owe me, Mal." she said "You owe me big time."

"....Again?! But we just did it before we came here... Really, is sex all you think about?!"

"Hey, just some extra-curricular activity, Mal. Don't get all bent out of shape. Let's get outta here and leave her for the creatures."

"Alright." Malevol answered, his head nuzzling Phobia's shoulder.

With that, they both disappeared to wherever.

Riza laid there, nearly dead. She soon passed out.

But just a few minutes later, someone came across Riza's body.

"Is she... dead?" asked a voice.

"No, she's alive, barely."replied a second.

"Think we should help?"

"Of course we're gonna help her. We've gotta do something about this– Holy."

"What is it?!"

"Look at her head! Don't you realize who this is, you nit?!"

"The Goddess. But... what coulda been strong enough to have done this?"

"I don't wanna find out. Let's get her back to our place in Babel."

"Okay!"

To be continued.