The Storm Ends…
Glast Heim Churchyard, Glast Heim
Grace stuck close to Lulaba, holding her for comfort. Why was she doing this? It was so childish…but it made her feel better…if Lulaba didn't mind, then it didn't really matter.
Lulaba just let the little girl hang onto her skirt. It didn't disturb her much anyway. Even though she wouldn't admit it, Lulaba thought Grace looked really cute like that…
She shunted that thought out of her mind completely. She had to be insane or very drunk to have even thought of that. Those white potions Auril gave her must have been drugged…
But ever since Grace started hugging her waist, she had the same feelings over and over…
She shoved the thought back out again. This wasn't helping her concentrate at all. She had to concentrate on her task at hand…
The Churchyard had been searched thrice, but still no gap or switch to where the Emperium may be hidden…maybe it wasn't here after all.
Whistling to her falcon, Lulaba waited as he finished another aerial sweep. He sure was taking his time on this search…
Suddenly, Lulaba's vision was replaced by the falcons'. It must have spotted something.
Something dark and blurry was forming near the middle of the Churchyard…was it another monster spawning? No…it was far too large to be anything Lulaba's seen so far…she commanded her falcon to take a closer look…
Suddenly, the dark blur shot out a colossal skeletal hand at Lulaba. Her vision became dark as the hand curled around her…
Sudden spikes of pain wrapped Lulaba, making her yell in agony. It felt like she was being crushed like an egg…shattering into bits and pieces…
"Lulaba! Lulaba, what's wrong? Lulaba!"
Her vision returned to her, she found herself on the floor, trembling uncontrollably. Grace knelt beside her, trying desperately to shake her awake.
Her falcon…her bond bird…was killed by that…thing…
She was still trembling slightly from the experience, and she noticed she was crying. She wiped her tears hastily, not letting Grace see her in this condition.
"Lulaba…" Grace asked concernedly, "are you…crying…?"
"No, I'm not," Lulaba said flatly, "C'mon, I need to check something out."
"Lulaba…was it your falcon? How come he hasn't come back even though you whistled to him?"
"It's nothing. He'll be back," Lulaba insisted. But she never once looked at Grace. She just let her hold her hand, not letting her look at her face…
…not letting her look at the tears she was shedding…
Geffen outskirts, Geffen area, a moment later…
Alice stood under a tree, drying herself again as the storm continued to pour. It was getting worse and worse…and the magic energy in the air the first time Alice felt it…it was getting stronger too…
But it didn't matter anymore; Alice was running away. She promised herself she won't look back. She'll go find Little Tails and they could run into the forests of Payon…maybe try joining the archer guild and get a life as another normal person…that might be fun…
Twisting her dress one last time, Alice ran back into the rain, going towards the grey walls of Geffen…
A guard was in his guard post, humming to himself as the storm continued to pour. He greeted the girl in blue cheerfully, telling her to get home fast; her parents won't be happy to see her soaking wet. 'Kids these days,' he thought to himself.
Alice ran through the gates, ignoring the guards' greeting. She charged ahead, finding shelter from the rain. Maybe that alley over there? The goods merchant's shop appears to be closed…
Just as she entered the alley, a loud scream echoed through the howling wind. What happened? The scream was close, it sounded like it came from deeper in the alley…maybe an accident…?
Alice ran ahead, hoping who ever it was that screamed wasn't hurt badly. The roofs here extended out, making a shelter from the rain for the price of light. It was very dim, but Alice could see perfectly. She ran ahead, dodging barrels and other obstacles that prevented her from reaching the screaming.
Where was the person who screamed? He couldn't be too far…Alice should be able to hear him mumbling or moaning at least…
Oh no.
The man lay on the floor, a knife stabbed into the back of his head. He was definitely dead; Alice couldn't feel a pulse…
Was it an assassin who killed him?
Alice gave him a silent prayer, hoping a safe after life. He didn't look like any of the warrior class jobs, so he didn't have the benefit of being resurrected…
Alice noticed a small pouch sticking out of the man's pocket. A small jingling sound came out of it when Alice lifted it. Inside, there were hundreds of small golden coins…that new currency Auril told her about…zeny? Maybe some of it would be useful along the way…
No, she couldn't take anything from the dead. She had seen people stripping her of her corpse's apron, broom and other things…it was exactly what she was doing now…
She took ten coins from the pouch, putting the rest back into his pocket. "Please forgive me, but I'll need some of this…I'll repay you if I ever get a chance…"
Alice ran away from the man. He reminded her of Tiana suddenly…how she died in the hands of a killer…she had to run; she promised herself not to look back…
The rain continued to pour, and soon, Alice was a dripping mess. Shelter didn't seem to matter much now; her present condition was bad already. She needed to find an Inn maybe, find a place to dry her clothes and wait till the storm stops…
"Hello, dear. We of the Kafra cooperation will always be here to serve you. What may I do for you today?" A lady in a uniform that reminded Alice of her old Glast Heim maid Uniform said under the shade of an umbrella. Alice didn't notice she ran into the town square…but there wasn't anyone but the Kafra person here…and she could see a huge tower sticking out of the city somewhere in the north.
"Umm…are you doing here, miss…Kafra?" Alice asked shyly. She was still unused to talking to people. She would keep her head low and speak in whispers, even to her friends. Everyone except Little Tails perhaps…he never seemed to be able to talk back…
The Kafra raised an eyebrow at Alice, but quickly replied, "I'm here to server people who have need for my services. I can help save your respawn point here in Geffen, open your personal storage box or teleport you to a nearby city."
Teleport her to a nearby city? That would definitely cut down Alice's trek back to Prontera.
"Umm…I'd like to go to pon-tel-a please…" she couldn't pronounce the city's name correct somehow…it must be the Glast accent she had…
"Warp services to Prontera cost one thousand two hundred zeny per transaction," the Kafra held out her hand, waiting for Alice to pay the right amount of zeny.
"Umm…hold on…please…" Alice dug into her pocket. She took out the coins she found earlier on the dead man, "This is all I have…will it be enough?"
The Kafra took one look at what was in her hands, and her face went into such a shocked expression she looked like she's seen a ghost.
"My dear, just one of these coins would be sufficient. In fact, I'll need to give you some change too," The Kafra took out her pouch, handing back Alice's remaining coins and a few silver and copper ones as well. Alice could hear the Kafra mumbling to herself as she worked on the transition spell, "Tristan's Gold Coins! Those must be worth at least one hundred thousand zeny each…and she had ten of them…"
With wisps of light gathering around Alice, she disappeared into a vortex, slowly materializing back into reality…
: Auril, we have a very big problem…:
Lulaba and Grace were surrounded by the most amount of undead they have ever seen. The dark blur in the middle of the Churchyard was gone, replaced by the newest army of enemies, as well as the bodies of some of the Abyss Legion group.
Lulaba shot another volley of Arrows at the marching zombies. They hit their mark, pushing the zombies with such force that they fell back onto the ground. But they still came. Even with arrows stuck in their heads, eyes, limbs and chest, they continued to march on toward the duo.
Grace threw her healing spells at them desperately, dispelling their undeath force back to the shadows. The zombies glowed green as Grace's healing spell turned the zombies back into corpses. But her effort was in vain as another hundred trudged toward them.
"Any good idea what to do?" Grace asked out of desperation.
"Yes. Get Auril and the rest of the gang here. Fast," Lulaba said coolly. She was still as cold as ice, even after the death of her beloved Falcon.
: Auril! Get down here, FAST. :
: I'm coming, I'm coming, hold on as long as possible, I and the rest of us are running at cha'. :
That meant he was probably running around, trying to find a slope to get to the centre of the Churchyard. Great, there's goes the cavalry.
Lulaba readied another batch of arrows. She held them in the same hand she used to hold her bow, the other hand already pulling back on the string. One more last minute aim and she set the arrow on the string free.
Before the arrow was allowed to hit its target, Lulaba flicked another arrow onto the string with her bow hand, pulling back as hard as possible. When the first arrow hit its victim, a second was already launched toward the same target.
'If you can't kill them, hit them again,' Lulaba thought back to a conversation she overheard by Auril and Chan. Their simple minded logic had some uses after all.
Lulaba unloaded arrows into the zombie until it lay motionless on the floor. She must have struck a weak spot…
But it wasn't time to celebrate yet. The next zombie was just two metres away from her. She drew another stack of arrows out of its sheath, it took her a split second to load one arrow onto the bow and pull back the string again. The zombie was only one metre away from her…
She brutally kicked the zombie away from her. Its head lolled off its neck, landing with a splat on the floor. The rest of the zombie toppled down onto the floor, staying motionless once more.
She fired the arrow she had pulled back, aiming at the zombie who was about to swing its arm at Grace. The arrow struck the zombie, but it paid no attention to the new piece of material in its rotting flesh. It bashed at Grace's barrier, making loud clanging sounds on them.
Another quick succession of arrows impaled the zombie, tearing off so much skin you could see bits of what was left of its inside…Grace didn't dare look, but Lulaba was indifferent. She fired her remaining arrows in her hand at the approaching lot, disabling three more zombies.
She felt for her sheath for more arrows…but only two were found. 'Damn,' Lulaba thought to herself, 'these things are really making me mad…'
Lulaba cut off the string from her bow with her dagger, holding both weapons together. Grace could take care of herself, she'd have not trouble.
A zombie attempted to lunge at Lulaba, but with a leap, she impaled the end of her bow into the zombie's chest. Now stuck in a deadly embrace, the zombie desperately clawed at Lulaba's direction, out of reach by just a few centimetres. Lulaba wasted no time; she sliced off the zombie's hands off, rendering it incapable of doing real damage to her. She finished it off with a quick slash of her combat knife, decapitating it clean off its shoulder. More smell of dried blood filled the air as the zombie returned to the dead.
Grace wasn't having as good a time as Lulaba. She scrambled to establish another barrier while turning the zombies. One quick chant from her and the zombies would suddenly fall to the ground motionlessly. But the zombies were all surrounding her; if it wasn't for the barrier, the zombies would be stomping on Grace's body flat now…
Lulaba sliced open another zombie's gut, letting rotten intestines to flop out of the body. The zombie didn't react much and was about to attack again when it suddenly found itself flying off its body. Another decapitation by Lulaba.
"Lulaba!" Grace called out, "I don't think I can take much more of this…"
The barrier around Grace began to fade steadily away…if Lulaba didn't do something the zombies were going to all over her…
Lulaba leapt at one of the zombies near Grace. She forced it aside, causing it to tumble to the ground with a few of its friends. Lulaba stabbed her bow into their heads, letting dried blood stain the oak wood. She threw her dagger at a zombie that was about to land another attack onto Grace's barrier. It sliced through its spine, just cutting it enough to leave enough flesh to hang its head grotesquely off its neck, supported only by what was left of it.
Grace ran through the escape route Lulaba just made for her, just in time to feel the effects of the barrier wear off. Grace cast another barrier around her and Lulaba. This would even the odds a little…but only a little. The other hundred zombies were already too packed together to force through them. They were trapped, and Lulaba and Grace would wear out soon if this keeps up…
"Yee-haw!" A cry from called. A peco peco jumped down from the ledge, a lord knight holding onto its reins tight. Auril jumped off his stead, charging at the zombie legion, spear raised.
With a spinning motion, he launched the spear into a dangerous rotor blade; tearing up everything that came to close. One zombie came bravely up to him, swinging its hands uselessly at him. Auril brought down his spear, power amplified by the force of the spinning. Bones and decayed flesh flew like projectiles, hitting everything with great force. The bits pinged off Auril's armour, making the zombies that were impaled by the rest of the pieces seem like they were made of fluff. They pierced through them with ease, instantly dispatching them back into the underworld.
Auril had time to give Lulaba and Grace a thumbs up before returning to the battle.
Lulaba recovered from Auril's sudden appearance, joining the fray as the trio fought the waves of undead brought to them.
"You're late," Lulaba chided.
"Sorry, but the way here was blocked; I was the only one who could make the jump down that slope, nobody else brought their Pecos along."
Damn, that meant no reinforcements.
But it didn't matter…Auril always had a way to handle things…
'Damn it…if Kaylah was with me, I would have reached the church already…' Zephyrus muttered. He ran through the rain, hand clutching his staff. That quickening spell the healers were taught would sure be useful now…
No time to ponder on that. He was almost there anyway.
: Kaylah, I'm sorry for the swift departure, but get everyone from the Zeus Legion to the Glast Heim Church, ASAP. We've got to stop Auril! :
: Stop him? But…: Kaylah's channel filled with thoughts of confusion, but she recovered swiftly: Yes sir, mister Zephyrus, sir! I'll try to round up everyone! :
The channel faded away. Zephyrus cursed himself for forgetting to contact his team beforehand. Damn…was he already fighting the Dark Lord? No; if he did, the whole of Glast Heim would be levelled…
Wait…
Zephyrus slowed to a halt. He could feel a mana pulse coming from…the sky?
Shielding his face with an energy coat, he glanced up into the sky. No mistake about it; a spell was being cast above…but the thunderclouds were blocking most of it…
The storm was a disguise…?
Concentrating with all his might, Zephyrus sent up a huge wash of mana. The clouds parted from the energy burst, revealing the biggest spell circle he has ever seen…
Zephyrus knew how to read the patterns within the circle; the lost language of the Endless Arcanity…it spelled out…
Oh crap.
Finding Auril was even more important now. They had to get out of here fast…
The Dark Lord has risen.
Alice returned to the familiar streets of Prontera. The clamour of a thousand people could be heard as the Town Square was alive with citizens and adventurers alike. She missed this place…it brought up memories of her old life in Glast Heim…
A familiar face passed by, a young lady with beautiful blond hair and deep blue eyes. She had a woven basket in her hand, inside were a variety of dyestuffs….
"Jovich?" Alice whispered to herself.
Even through the noise of the market, even though Alice was so soft, it was as if Jovich could hear her.
"A-Alice? Alice Ashkebourne? Where have you been? It's been a few days since you left us…and after…after Tiana…" Jovich could say no more. She cried into her hands, weeping loudly; attracting a lot of attention around her.
"Jovich…I'm sorry…about running away…about Tiana…it's all my fault…I shouldn't have come into you life…I should have just stayed in Glast Heim…"
Jovich looked up, eyes still drenched but widened immensely. "You…you're that girl that the Owl Baron wanted…? You…stay away from me! Demon! You killed Tiana didn't you! Why…why us? You cold-hearted bit-"
Before anymore could be said, Alice ran away from Jovich, straight into the sea of merchants. Now Jovich hates her…she knows what she was…she won't ever be friends with her again…
…she lost another friend again…
No. Don't look back. Keep finding Little Tails…at least one friend would still be there for her…
Auril, Lulaba and Grace had their backs on each other. The zombies kept rising back from the dead when they were killed…even severed limbs crawled toward the trio.
"Anybody have any more bright ideas?" Auril asked comically. Lulaba's face remained cold while Grace just supported herself with her staff.
"I'm beat…I don't think…I can…fight any…longer…" Grace huffed.
Great, now even Grace was out…if only those stone pillars weren't blocking the rest of the Abyss legion's way…
The zombies suddenly shuddered violently. They froze in their positions suddenly, then slumped onto the floor, dead once again.
"Wah…what happened?" Auril stuttered. Was it a miracle? They couldn't just have disappeared…
Close guess, but he was wrong.
It wasn't a miracle. It was an omen.
Zephyrus entered the Church, just in time to feel a small earthquake...no it was too late...
: Auril! Get out of there! The Dark Lord Is coming! :
