Chapter 3-'tis coming

Morning had come. Rune-Midgard was bathed in a bright wave of shining light. People came out of their houses to do what they always did: shopping, vending, training…..what your average person would do.

Juno's streets were filled once again with magus and professors, all heading towards the Schweicherbil academy. The formations stopped bursting with light every now and then.

Kuzoa and Decipher had just woken up and were headed to Geffen. A stroke of luck hit them. Since the elder couldn't lend them any transportation, a traveling breeder just happened to pass by with a herd of pecopecos. They bought two, at 5, 000z each, and strode off through the Juno plateaus.

"Why are we going to Geffen again?" Decipher asked, as their pecos were running at top speed. His voice could hardly be heard by Kuzoa, as the wind was passing by so fast, it was making such loud noises.

"Hey, I read the book you know." He drew out the book, still holding on to the reins.

"See? It says here. Suq' Ata is not of this world. One cannot just waltz into the sacred city. One has to pass through the different worlds this world has: Midgard, Aflheim, Asgard, Vanaheim, Jotunheim, Muspelheim, Svartalheim, Niflheim and Helheim"

"I suppose that's in order right?"

"I guess."

"So we have to get into this Aflheim place, and the only known way is through the bottom of Geffen tower: Geffenia. See why we have to go there?" Kuzoa explained.

"Alright…alright."

They just kept riding their peco, couldn't even recognize the surroundings anymore because of their speed. All they did was trust their peco, because they knew where they were going. Truth is, they didn't know where they were going either.

"Kuzoa! Grab the reins!" Decipher bellowed.

Trusting him, Kuzoa grabbed the reins, Decipher did as well.

Because of the speed they were going at, even when the peco refused to move, they were still moving. The peco dug its feet deeper and deeper but they were still moving. Lady luck was surely right beside them. They stopped just before they went down the rapids that divided the plateaus from Mt. Mjolnir.

Panting, Kuzoa said, "Whoa!...How'd you…..know when to stop?"

"Lucky guess?"

"C'mon! Let's just head into town SLOWLY. I've had enough action for today." Decipher said as he ushered the peco to go into Mt. Mjolnir.

"It's a good thing Al de Baran's just a lil bit farther!"

"M' lord! Our intelligence shows us the apocrypha is in the hands of the one named Kuzoa Asacroix (Kuzoa, assassin cross )"

"Kuzoa……Asacroix….."

15 years ago

Kuzoa Asacroix was always teased by his fellow novices. At a mere age of 9, he was about to join the thieve's guild pretty soon. The other guys had already become thieves much, much earlier than him and always picked on him. They threw stones at him, they kicked sand at him….normal bully procedures. Although he didn't know what became of his parents, he had one friend. She was a magess. Although she was a mage before he became a thief, they were still very good friends, and were roughly the same age.

"When you cry I'd wipe away all of your tears."

"When you scream I'd fight away all of your fears."

That was the vow they made to each other.

By the age of 15, Kuzoa was a full fledged assassin, and his friend, Rochelle, was a wizardress, and they've become much, much more then friends.

One day, Kuzoa invited Rochelle over to his place. She never came. Kuzoa went over to her house, and found a note on the door:

Kuzoa,

I'm sorry, there're just things I have to do.

Love, Rochelle

Years passed and Kuzoa was now traveling all over the world. He wanted to see the world, the mountains, the beaches, the jungles, the dungeons……the only thing he hadn't seen was Geffen, which, by what he had heard, was really beautiful. He never knew that once he stepped foot inside, he would never forgive her.

As he went toward the famous Geffen tower, he saw her. Atop the peak. She was doing some weird incantation, then the sky darkened. Meteors fell from the sky and killed thousands of innocent people, just because she was bored.

"How could you?"

She looked down and saw him.

"T-This isn't what it seems!"

"I have eyes you know!"

Kuzoa drew out his knives and hurled them at her. She whisked off before the knives hit her.

"I'm sorry, there are things I just have to do."

Kuzoa and Decipher went out of the bar. A storm had just arrived. The strong gusts of wind blew their clothes from side to side. A thick mist covered the city of Al de Baran. Nothing could be seen. Not even the clocktower.

Back in the bar, people were howling, shouting and screaming. Dancers were dancing, prostitutes were showing off their bodies, rogues drinking beer.

"Well, we have a choice. We could either go off into this storm…."

"..or into this monster-infested bar. I'd say we should just get to Geffen as quickly as possible."

"Don't say I didn't warn you…."

They went over to their pecopecos and rode them. With a mere movement of the reins up and down, the pecos started walking. Then running. Sprinting.

They were actually sprinting through a monster-infested mountain, with a huge storm.

Their bag of luck had just ran out. A large, red insect tripped their pecos, and attacked them. Their pecos died almost instantly. Decipher took a closer look.

"An argiope."

His hands glowed with a bluish flame, and was about to cast a spell. A knife was shot from behind him, and killed the argiope instantly. He looked behind him.

"Got you covered." Kuzoa said.

Kuzoa felt the presence of another individual. A presence that was peculiarly familiar to him. He drew out his knives. Decipher began casting.

"Show yourself you coward!" Kuzoa shouted.

He felt something moving by his bag. Wait! The apocrypha was in there! He turned around and pointed his knives at the figure.

"Rochelle?"

……and dropped the knives immediately

"This isn't what it seems!"

"That's always what you've said! Now hand over the apocrypha!"

The storm subsided just like that. Very peculiar indeed. But the storm wasn't the only thing that subsided. The rivers dried up.

"and the rivers and waters of Midgard ran dry." Decipher said.

Kuzoa looked behind him. Rochelle was no longer there. She was off in the distance. As he ran after her, he felt something in his chest. The demon. It was trying to escape!

The last thing he saw was Decipher moving his arms in a very peculiar way. Then his vision faded and everything turned dark.

"Am I dead?"