Yaaaaay!!! I don't have to italicize in quick edit anymore!!!
Thanks to for finally fixing that little annoyance in their document manager. No I can finally abuse the italic font to the fullest!!!
GYAHAHAHA!!!
awkward silence
I'm gonna stop now.... Ü
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RAGNAROK ONLINE FANFIC
TRANSGRESSIONS OF FATEBy: RAGNAR (that really is my name)
Chapter 18: Festivals and TragedyPlease wake up.
Jarade's saw big brown eyes staring down at him as his own eyes slowly opened.
The young girl's hands were hovering over his chest in an attempt to Heal his injuries. Tears were forming at the corners of the Acolyte's eyes.
His voice was weak because of the residual pain from the girl's rough version of Healing "What? Where am I?"
The Acolyte said nothing as she bit her lower lip, a reflection of her concentration.
Jarade was still too weak.
No matter how hard he fought, his body fell back into unconsciousness.
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Michelle was kneeling next to the Assassin with her hands over his chest. This was the first time she had to do a Heal spell this big.
Frustration made her loose her concentration, making the glow flicker from her fingers.
Michelle whimpered as she forced herself to bring her focus back to Healing the man.
There was only one candle giving light to the room. There was only half of it left as its tiny flame burned away the wax.
She was scavenging for food in the city's ruins when the Assassin's peco-peco burst through the castle door, dropped the man in front of her, and died. She almost screamed from the fright when it happened – that is, if she didn't know that the monsters might hear her.
Lucky for the both of them, the Assassin was light enough for her to push through the castle vents.
This tiny room was actually an old waiting post for the castle's maintenance personnel. From all the cobwebs she found the first time she got here, Michelle doubted that anyone could remember this spot.
She had to pull out the arrows that were all over the man before trying to Heal him. To tell the truth, that was the most nerve-wracking moment of her life.
Tears fell from her eyes and made dark spots on the Assassin's uniform. She bit her lip in an attempt to stop crying.
"Please, mister, hold on. I don't wanna be alone." Michelle said in between sobs.
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The night air outside the Assassin's Sanctuary was filled with the smell of delicious food and the scents of the desert. Everyone wore their best clothes for the Guild's Starfall Festival.
Well, Jarade never felt comfortable in any clothing other than his Assassin's uniform. Besides, the coat he was wearing was festive enough, and it was the only one in his wardrobe that wasn't too reminiscent of their profession.
Aside from the coat, the rest of his clothing was the same uniform he would have worn in the field. One of his colleagues even commented that Jarade was just "too damn serious".
The coat's bright red cloth stirred in the wind as he stood and enjoyed the show.
The visiting Wizards and Mages provided the light show they planned for the Starfall Festival. Bolts of fire, ice and lightning flew from the fortress towers to the sky above and exploded into a display of colors and sound.
Bright light bathed their faces as they watched in awe at all the beautiful wonders the spell-casters did with their Magic.
Jarade couldn't help but stare gap-jawed at the lights that exploded in the night sky. The Wizards never gave out the same shape more than twice. It would seem that they made sure that everyone would watch the show from beginning to end.
He laughed as he saw bolt of lightning collided with a fireball and exploded into a ring of a thousand multicolored sparks that brightened the sky for an instant. The sparks in turn, exploded into another ring of light.
And to think that this magnificent display was just the beginning of the party.
The Starfall Festival attracted almost every Assassin in Midgard back to the desert. Why wouldn't they? It was the only time they get to lighten up.
The Festival was actually the Assassin's Guild's Anniversary Celebration. It marked the day the Guild was established. It marked the day their purpose was made known to them.
They were Assassins. Despite their title, they only killed those who needed to die. Their one true purpose was to watch in the shadows and uphold justice and to protect the weak.
Assassins were there to make sure that Midgard would sleep at night without fearing tomorrow.
Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice crying out to him. "Jarade! Jarade!"
He turned around to see Faras running up to him. The man was wearing a fine black coat that was decorated by silver sunburst patterns. It would seem that something very exciting had happened.
"What is it, Faras? The sky fell on you or something?" he joked.
Faras broke into an ear-to-ear grin that split his face in two. "I asked Sai to marry me. And guess what? SHE SAID YES!!!"
He couldn't believe that his friend was actually acting like a giddy girl.
Faras' face grew serious as he seemed to be contemplating something, "Hey, Jarade, I want you to be Best Man."
Now that was sudden.
"I... I..." He cleared his throat, "I would be honored, my friend." Jarade said with a smile.
Faras shook his hand enthusiastically, "I gotta go, man. I have to tell the others." He said that while running towards the next set of people.
Oh well... Best Man...well, this might be interesting.
Jarade felt his stomach grumble, telling him that he hadn't actually eaten the whole day. Tearing his eyes away from the Wizard's display, he diverted his attention to all the food that was laid out in hundreds of tables all over the fortress' outer courtyard.
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The man's eyes slowly opened again as Michelle tried her best to close up another set of wounds in his side. He was groaning from the pain that her Healing was causing him.
She wanted to apologize, but that would require her to cut her focus short. She can't let him die. She didn't want to be left alone in this deserted city.
Before she realized it, the Assassin cupped her cheek and let out a weak smile.
His gesture gave Michelle the motivation she needed to keep going.
She gave the Heal spell everything she's got as the Assassin fell back to sleep once more.
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"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!!!"
Jarade heard the guard's shout before the eastern warning gong was even rung.
The Wizards' display stopped abruptly the moment they realized what was going on. Hundreds of Sight spells were cast all over the Fortress perimeter to give light to the situation.
An arrow zipped past his face and lodged itself on the table behind him. That was when, amidst all the fireballs rotating around the fortress, he saw thousands upon thousands of arrows rain from the sky to the east.
Those with shields handy brought them up and ran into the Sanctuary. Those who didn't have any cover while running quickly dropped to the ground either injured – or dead.
He turned the table over and ducked behind it while those nearby followed suit.
The tables were lined in a way that can be traced to the Sanctuary entrance, if they crawled behind the tables, they might have a chance of making it inside the fortress.
He shouted at the top of his lungs, "EVERYBODY, TURN THE TABLES OVER! WE NEED TO GET INSIDE THE FORTRESS!!!"
From behind his cover, he could hear the noise of hundreds of tables being toppled over.
Jarade and the others in his row slowly crawled towards the entrance, toppling tables over as they went. He can see Archers, Hunters, Mages, and Wizards from the towers sending volley after volley of arrows and magic against the enemy.
He can also see that the enemy was sending their own magic against the defenders. Fire slammed against the tower walls, as the enemy spell-casters tried to bring them down.
As he crawled behind the banquet tables, he saw a one of the towers crack and tilt towards the outside when one of the enemy Fireballs slammed into its walls. He heard men scream as they fell to their deaths.
They made a dash to the entrance as soon as they reached the end of the line of tables.
He and his companions were being rained upon by thousands of arrows from beyond the Sanctuary walls as they tried to go inside the fortress. More than once, he's seen one of them fall dead when one too many arrows went through their bodies. He himself had a few arrows stuck at some parts of his body.
When he looked back outside the fortress, the outer wall crumbled when the biggest Fireball spell he had ever seen slammed against it.
The Assassins scattered within the Sanctuary and turned on the special lamps. Certain parts of the entrance hallway were filled with harsh red light that cast dark shadows all over the place. Men from the armory brought in every available weapon by the wagonload.
The Archers and Hunters took places behind and above the murder holes that dotted the Sanctuary's halls.
The Mages, Wizards, and the other soldiers took the liberty of guarding the front while waiting for the doors to break open.
Jarade strapped on a pair of Katars to his arms while he took off his coat. Snapping off the arrows that stuck to him, he looked for a dark enough shadow.
Whoever it is that dared attack the Assassin's Sanctuary, they'll see that they had made the last mistake of their life. Jarade thought this as he headed for a patch of shadow to meld with.
The doors burst open.
The Sanctuary filled with the shouts of screams of soldiers that met with the enemy that flooded through. Arrows and magic zipped over the defenders' heads and landed outside in an attempt to keep the enemy from overrunning them in the first wave.
Suddenly, the defenders in the front lines scattered as they were bombarded by hundreds of Fireballs.
The soldiers regrouped to the back along with the spell-casters as the enemy burst into the Sanctuary.
Jarade's heart hammered in his chest from the anticipation of battle.
He didn't know that this would be the last night for the Assassin's Guild.
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The Assassin gasped awake when Michelle was finally able to Heal the last group of wounds in his body.
She let out a squeak when the man jerked upright with that shocked look on his face. In fact, she almost slammed his face with her club.
"Where am I?" the Assassin asked in between gasps.
Michelle tried to be as polite as she could possibly be. "We're in Morroc Castle's ventilation ducts... The... the..." She tried to force back tears, "the whole city's been attacked and..." she just trailed off after that, not willing to bring back the horrible memory.
All hope left the Assassin's face, "No..."
He turned to her, the Assassin's eyes were filled with sorrow, "Are there any survivors?"
She looked away from him, "I... don't know."
"I see..."
Michelle took an apple from her scavenge bag and gave it to the Assassin, "What's your name?" she asked.
"Jarade."
"Mine's Michelle," she held out her hand. At least she wasn't alone anymore.
Jarade took her hand and shook it.
She watched him eat the apple, Michelle asked again, "Wow, you're an Assassin, right?"
He nodded.
"Does that mean that the Guild has finally arrived to help the city?"
Jarade suddenly stopped chewing. His grip on the fruit threatened to crush it. "I don't think there's any hope for that... The Guild is dead."
"What?" Michelle couldn't believe her ears. She couldn't believe that an entire Guild has been wiped out.
"I think that Morroc and the Sanctuary have been attacked at the same time. The enemy probably knew about the Starfall Parade and waited for the right time to strike."
"So what do we do?"
"For now? We should wait, find a way out of the city and go to Prontera. We need to warn everyone about all that's happened. I think something big is going on... and I'm going to find out what it is."
For the first time in days, Michelle smiled, "That sounds like a plan."
Jarade smiled, "I guess it its."
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Meshido and Kevin went through Prontera's gates on their peco-pecos. Meshido was still a little weak from the battle between him and Sei'Gash even though quite a while had already passed.
It took much effort in Meshido's part to finally accept what Marus really was and what Freya had become.
He guessed that there was nothing simple in this world anymore. His only regret was that he was never going to take those two years back.
Kevin looked at his direction, worry creased the Crusader's face "You think those four would be OK back there? I mean... they've got Marus and all... but..."
"I've studied Marus for two years, Kevin. And Freya has the Fateless to watch over her as well. They can handle themselves."
Kevin just shrugged, "If you say so... Odin's eye, man, what do you think we should say to the High Priest? I mean... you don't think he would like the idea of us letting Shadow Eyes go?"
"No, I don't think so."
"You seem broody."
"Why shouldn't I be?"
Together, the two of them rode their birds across Prontera's streets and into the front of the Holy Sanctuary's gates.
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Marus sparred with Sodos in one end of the camp using only their bare hands. If Mae can remember it correctly, they were doing this for "old time's sake".
When Shadow Eyes woke up, she refreshed his memories regarding the things that happened a thousand years ago. It was no easy task, but luckily, she was Sei'Gash's Keeper, so she could do it quickly enough.
Degedos handed her a piece of meat that was frying on the roasting pit.
"Anything wrong, Keeper?"
Mae bit off a piece, "Nothing, Degedos, other than a bad feeling that something is going to happen soon... Speaking of events, you sound as if you no longer hate me... why is that?"
"My contempt for you was just a reflection of what Sei'Gash feels about you. Since I've been too long from the Rift, the emotions faded away along with its effects on me."
"I see..."
Looking to the south, the Keeper could not help but feel uneasy at the way the wind blew on her face.