Summary: They worked for an underground organization of bounty hunters. Time after time, they took care of threats to Rune-Midgard. But this time, their target isn't anything of the ordinary; it's a boy who knows the key to the next Ragnarok.
Disclaimer: I don't own Ragnarok Online. :P But the characters in this story belong to my friends and I.
Author's Note: I'm back with a revision of The Ragnarok! W00t! There have been some changes (mostly the fight scenes and some dialogue...also the new "Wings Armada" group), so I suggest to those who have read this before read it again. Sorry for the trouble. DX One note before we continue:
Bold Italic means Party Chat.
Bold means Private Messaging.
Much explaining will be present in this chapter, so get ready for long and boring paragraphs. Enjoy.
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The Ragnarok
Chapter Three: Plan B
-
"Tell me again, why do you trust him?"
Blades looked untrustingly at Daisuke in the lead, the rest of the crew trailing behind him.
"It's not like we have a choice," Rya explained. "And first off, Daisuke doesn't seem the same as the first time we met him. He was a psychopath who was madly in love with a girl, and now, he's not. He's changed, Blades. Secondly, we don't know where they are, and who else would know except Daisuke? Haven't you checked the party list? They're in some unknown place, and we don't know where the hell this unknown place is. What other option do we have?"
"You're too nice, you know that?" Blades shook his head.
Ramza sliced at a Poring without effort, killing it in one slash of his sword. He knelt down and picked up an empty bottle from the dead Poring. "Well she does have a point, doesn't she?"
"I guess you're right..."
"We're here." Daisuke stopped. They had stopped in the middle of the Alberta fields.
"So...?" Ramza asked, expecting more. Ramza rummaged through his pack and brought out a bottle of milk. Shishkabob jabbed him in the stomach with her elbow, giving him a look that told him to put it away and save it for later.
Daisuke, however, ignored Ramza's craving for milk and shoved his sword tip into the ground and immediately, a warp portal flared from the ground.
"If we were warping we could've asked a Kafra you know," Blades mentioned. "If it isn't directly to the unknown place, that is."
"This is the only and exact spot where I can warp to where your friends are," Daisuke explained coldly. "Only Kania and Khaos can access the warp portals else where."
"That's great!" Blades remarked sarcastically.
"Very," Daisuke retorted, just as sarcastic.
"Quit it you two," Shiskabob snapped. "So, Daisuke, can others enter the warp portal or can only mixes enter?"
"Anyone can."
"Wait, but how come there is suddenly an unknown place in Rune-Midgard? There never has been! And how did she manage to become a mix?" Ramza questioned.
"That is Kania's ability. She discovered a special ability like no other," Daisuke explained gruffly. "She was able to create a separate realm in Rune-Midgard, hence the unknown place, named Aria by her. She was also able to shift into a creature she created, the Sykan. I believe the Hunter has already seen it, the squid-like creature."
"But how?" Rya demanded, as the others looked on confused, as they hadn't been there from the start.
"I cannot explain why she has those special abilities. Even I do not know the reasoning behind that. As for the mixing of the classes, it is a long story.
"She started out as an Acolyte. She never wanted to be one, but her mother was a Priest and clearly wanted Kania to follow her footsteps. Kania didn't like that, so she ran away from home after experiencing being an Acolyte, and that was how she discovered her ability to create a realm and creature; she wanted to go someplace else where she could control her own world. The creature she created was fed by her determination and became strong and swift. As the creature grew strong, she wanted to become a Knight because she admired the strength of it. This led her to disguise herself as a different person so nobody could recognize her. And then she passed the Swordsman training and was worthy to become a Swordsman.
"However, Kania still had her Acolyte abilities. She then thought of the idea of combining all the classes together to become one super-class. It was risky, for the consequences of choosing more than one job class were harsh, but she succeeded. Then she met me. I was an Archer back then and I grew suspicious of her so I followed her. I saw her as a Swordsman, but when she thought no one was looking, I saw her heal herself with her Acolyte abilities after she took on an Angelring and its Poring and Poporing mob. We became close friends afterwards. I followed her footsteps in creating the super-class, and I succeeded also, but I had more difficulty with it."
"Holy shit! If she were able to do that, why would she kidnap the others? And why not just live in her own realm and crap like that?" Blades asked, shocked at the super-class history.
"She is only able to create one of each. That is the con; perhaps she is tired of Aria," Daisuke explained impatiently, apparently not liking all the questions he had to answer. He had already spent valuable time explaining the super-class history.
"You still haven't answered the other questions," Rya pressed on. "Why did she kidnap the others?"
"Why waste my breath even more on this?" Daisuke snapped. "Your friends already know, Kania has told them. Ask them to tell you. Let us get going now. You do want your friends back in one piece, don't you? We have already lost many precious minutes due to your questionings."
"Let's go then," Shishkabob nodded.
One by one, they disappeared into the warp portal.
-
Khaos led Miraka out of the room. "You boys stay here. You might see your friend again, if I'm feeling merciful."
Payon gripped the dagger Miraka had given him beforehand. Miraka nodded at him as she slowly closed the door, giving him the signal. Payon rushed to the door and stuck the dagger between the frame and it. It would give them a chance to open the door.
"Well? Saying goodbye to your friends?" Khaos laughed as he saw Miraka slowly close the door. He walked swiftly over and slammed the door shut, locking it, the dagger wedged in between the door and its frame.
"Let us go."
Payon stared at the door. The dagger was stuck in it, and the door remained locked. Skoo tapped it a few times, but the dagger didn't budge an inch.
"Shit, that's some strength," Paroid shook his head helplessly. "Now we'll never get out!"
"Watch me," Payon growled; determined fire burned in his eyes. He grabbed the hilt of the dagger and pushed it up with all his might. A satisfying click was heard; he had sliced through the lock.
"Booyah! Go Payon!" Evol cheered.
Payon grinned as he brought the dagger out, with much difficulty. He turned the knob, ready to bust out of the horrid cage.
But the doorknob was stiff.
"What the hell?" Payon stared unbelievably at the door. It was still locked.
Skoo peeked through the tiny crack of the door and its frame. "Uh, Payon. We have a problem."
"What?" Payon asked, still in shock.
"There's another lock."
-
Daisuke led them swiftly through the dark and empty corridors. "Keep silent, Haru and Naru may be patrolling the halls."
"Haru and Naru?" Ramza asked, puzzled.
"They are the two twin body guards of Kania. They are experienced fighters, maybe the best for two non-mixes."
"What class?" Blades asked.
"Spearmen. Now shut up, all of you."
In silence, the group traveled closely by Daisuke as he navigated the narrow passageways.
-
The boys lay on their backs. They couldn't do anything more to open the door; the dagger wasn't able to slide back in the crack between the door and its frame to slice through the other lock.
"Oh, right," Payon murmured grimly. "Party chat."
Payon remembered Miraka telling him to contact the others. "Ugh, too tired. You do it Paroid."
"Too lazy. It's all yours Evol."
"Skoo."
"Blades."
"Blades isn't here, Skoo."
"...he is with us spiritually."
The responsibility of contacting the others was lost as the message traveled around the room, each boy answering the same way.
"Lazy asses," Payon sighed. Seeing that no one was up for the challenge, he brought the device to his lips to do it himself.
"Speak for yourself!" All three retorted.
-
When Miraka exited the warp portal with Khaos, she set her eyes on a familiar sight.
"W...what? Why are we in Payon Dungeon Level 1?" Miraka asked, puzzled.
"Haha, little Thief, you challenged me, did you not? I chose the Payon Dungeons for our challenge to take place. The first to reach Level 5 shall be declared the winner," Khaos laughed. "Ladies first. You may either go to the left or head on straight. I will go the opposite way. Take note that teleporting and fly wings are not allowed."
To ensure that fly wings were not to be used, Khaos forced Miraka to give up her stash, along with his own. He gave their combined fly wings to a grateful passerby.
My plan can't work like this! Wait, maybe I can fake it and leave once he is out of sight. Then I'll try to get back to the others. If not, I'll get reinforcements. "Alright then." Miraka nodded, as she carefully looked both ways. The left side was filled with other people. The route ahead had fewer. "I'll go left."
"Whatever you say."
Miraka hid among the other people, slicing at a few Spores in the meantime, making sure Khaos was out of sight. He's sure to be long gone by now. I've got a whole crowd to go through so it would make sense if I were behind a little.
Miraka darted her eyes around carefully before using her cloaking ability and running towards the exit. Her feet met grassland and a breeze went through her hair.
She was free.
"I let the Thief escape," Khaos spoke into his wrist device as he watched Miraka disappear. "She is a nuisance to our plans."
"Alright then. Warp back immediately to the others. I do not trust that the boys will stay put that easily." Kania's voice echoed through Khaos's ears, and only for Khaos's ears to hear.
-
"I really have no idea where this room is," Payon spoke through party chat. He had contacted his party minutes ago, and all had been surprised to hear from him. Brushing away their questions, he tried directing them to the room they were trapped in instead. "We've only seen a small glimpse of it. I think across from it is another hallway."
"There are many doors that fit that description," Daisuke replied dryly as Rya told him what Payon said.
"Can we just yell and you guys follow the sound?" Skoo asked.
"No, someone else may hear you," Daisuke answered as Rya relayed another message.
"But you guys can take them out, right?" Skoo protested.
"We will leave that as a backup plan," Daisuke said. Blades relayed the message to the three captured boys.
"Man, this sucks," Paroid muttered.
"Well at least he knows the way around," Shishkabob sighed.
"I may remember which room they are in. My mind is foggy, however," Daisuke said as he made a sharp turn. "I recall Kania having other captives in a room once."
"Now why would she have other captives?" Ramza asked.
"Kania was searching for you. She captured anyone who looked similar in an instant. When she found out they were not you, she killed them."
"Just tell us why she wants us in the first place. It might take forever to find our friends, so tell us now," Blades demanded.
"I've got a question for this Daisuke guy," Payon said from the party chat, not knowing Blades had asked something important. "Why is it that we can't bring down the door, but we managed to slice through a lock?"
"Kania most likely did not think about protecting the locks because no blade could fit through the door and its frame, unless there was one jammed in there once the door was shut," Daisuke answered as Shishkabob passed on the question to him. Blades grumbled as his question was ignored.
"Quite interesting. The only thing she didn't suspect and we manage to do it. But she's the smart one for putting another lock."
Ramza passed on the message to Daisuke, who found no remark for the comment.
"I believe this may be the door." After walking for what seemed like eternity, Daisuke stopped at a door. Calmly, he fumbled for something in his zeny pouch.
"What are you doing?" Rya asked.
"Here it is," Daisuke pulled out a silver object. "It's the key."
-
Miraka had warped back to Prontera, searching for reinforcements. She had checked her party list and everyone was in the unknown place. Feeling useless, Miraka shoved her way through a sea of Merchants, hoping to find other friends or other members in the underground organization she was in.
"Hey, Miraka!"
Miraka turned to face where the voice was coming from. " Tyler!"
A redheaded Wizard grinned as he made his way to her. "What's the rush?"
"No time to explain, but my friends are in danger!" Miraka blurted out, showing Tyler her party list. "They've all been captured into this unknown place!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," The Wizard put his hands in front of him, as if saying stop. "Slow down!"
Miraka grumbled under her breath before explaining the whole story to him.
"Alright. I don't get it."
Miraka dealt him a swift punch to his stomach. "You'll be wasting my time if you ask me questions. Are you going to help me, with what you know or not?"
"I'll help," Tyler nodded, rubbing his stomach. "Geez, you didn't have to punch me, you know?"
"Save it, Tyler," Miraka laughed as she dragged him away in search of more reinforcements.
-
"Okay, so she changed the lock. NOW WHAT?!" Ramza practically screamed, on the verge of exploding in frustration.
"We have no choice but to smash down the door," Daisuke said monotonously.
"But they've tried! Even Paroid couldn't bash it open with his Bash!" Shishkabob objected.
"They haven't tried using firepower from outside, nor both sides," Daisuke snapped. "It's worth a shot."
"Guys, all of you are going to hit at the same time on this door. All of us on this side will do the same. Daisuke said it was worth a try, trying to break open this door with pressure from both sides." Rya instructed Payon, Paroid, Evol and Skoo inside the room.
"Uh, for your information, Paroid bashed this door a billion times," Skoo called out dully from inside the room.
"We're trying from both sides. It can't hurt, right?" Shishkabob reasoned.
"Okay, we'll try it. Personally, I doubt this will work," Payon sighed.
"On the count of three." Blades informed.
"One."
"Two."
"THREE!"
A huge explosion occurred as arrows, swords, fire, lightning, and holy light came in contact with the door.
-
"Damn it!"
Miraka had run around the entire city of Prontera, and the only reinforcement she found was Tyler. The other members of Wings Armada were probably too busy at the castle.
"Am I not good enough for you?" Tyler laughed sheepishly, amused at how Miraka was frustrated.
"I need all the firepower we can get. You, for that matter, are not good enough."
"That really hurt," Tyler laughed again as Miraka sought her brain for ideas.
"Do you have any friends?" Miraka asked impatiently.
"What kind of question is that? Of course I've got friends!"
"That can help us?" Miraka asked again, awaiting the answer.
"Oh, haha...That's a different story. Well, I'll have to ask my crew first." Tyler grinned.
"Well please do hurry," Miraka sighed, worried for her friends' safety.
-
The door had been cleared out from the outside. Payon, Paroid, Evol and Skoo lay flat on their backs, dazed from the explosion from their outside help. Skoo sat up; his hair was spiked up, even though he had goggles on his head, due to an electric shock. "Okay, who's the smart guy who used lightning?"
"I did," Daisuke snapped. "Now get out, before they find us. The explosion was more than enough to attract attention."
"Wait, are there others in here? You said Kania kidnapped anyone who even remotely looked like us, and she didn't have our whole crew in," Rya objected.
Daisuke grumbled, irritated. "All I proposed to you was to get your friends back. Now what are you waiting for? Leave!"
"I'm not just about to get innocent lives killed, just because of us!" Rya growled defensively.
"Now what was that I said before? Ah yes, Rya, you are too kind for your own good," Blades sighed.
"Fine. Have it your way, Huntress. The rest of you, get out of here unless you want to die. I will escort the Huntress to whatever hostages Kania may have not killed yet in the "imposter" room. There may be no one there, however," Daisuke added.
"I've gotta confess, Daisuke. I don't trust you. Especially if you insist on taking Rya, by herself, away," Blades said. "You might kill her, but who would know?"
"I led you all the way down here to your friends, and you do not trust me? Suit yourself, Swordsman. Go with her if you'd like," Daisuke spat. He turned a heel and made his way down the hallway. "By the way, if you bump into Haru and Naru, I wish you luck. You will need it."
Rya flashed a weak smile to her friends as she ran off to chase Daisuke. "I'll be okay, don't worry. If Daisuke wasn't trustworthy, he would've never told us what he did."
"Why don't we all go?" Evol suggested, eyeing Daisuke from afar. He still did not trust him, even with Rya's reassuring words.
"No, just one is needed. The rest of you, get out, if we are taken hostage again, it's only two missing people and we will have better reinforcements," Blades shook his head. "And whoever the hell these two Haru-Naru people are, I hope they burn in hell."
Blades left, following Rya and Daisuke.
"Well...who knows the way out of here?" Payon sheepishly grinned.
-
"So? What did they say?" Miraka asked impatiently.
"Well you do know that I am the youngest in the party," Tyler began. "And well...they think I'm making this up. They're not gonna help you."
"Great! Just great," Miraka threw her hands up in defeat. "My friends may be killed, and your party thinks we're hallucinating kids!"
"Well not hallucinating kids, but attention-seeking ones with wild imagination," Tyler corrected, and was rewarded with another punch to the gut. "Ow...you should really stop doing that..."
"Really? Why?" Miraka shot back. "My friends are in danger, and here you are, calm as ever!" Miraka started to walk away.
"Wait! Miraka!" Tyler began to chase after her. "Geez, girls. What's up with them these days?"
-
Rya and Blades walked silently behind Daisuke. In a matter of many turns, Daisuke stopped at a door. Loud sobbing was heard from the other side. Without warning, Daisuke took out his sword and lightning burst from the tip, blowing down the door completely. Rya and Blades coughed as door chunks were blown into their faces.
"Great job, Daisuke, you might've killed them instead!" Blades remarked wryly.
Shuffling was heard inside the room.
"Who's there?" Rya called out as she stepped carefully through the broken door. In the corner of the room, she saw a lone Archer boy, trembling. He looked up with terrified, watery eyes at the approaching figure.
Rya knelt down beside the boy. "Are you alright?"
"Are you one of Kania's followers?"
"No, I'm not. I'm here to get you out," Rya replied gently. The boy looked very relieved, but Rya noticed something about him. She tilted up his head for a closer look on his facial features. "You're not 13. You shouldn't be able to become an Archer yet."
The boy's eyes widened. "Wait! I can explain! Just...just d-don't tell anybody! Please! I just want to be an Archer...I just want to help fight off the bad guys!"
Blades knelt down beside Rya. "Hey, kid, don't worry. We won't tell. What's your name, and what's your story?"
"Matt," The boy replied, again relieved. He adjusted his ghost bandana that rested on his semi-spiked red hair. "Ever since my brother left to become a Wizard, I've wanted to help, but I've got a few years until I'm 13, three more years to be exact. My brother came back home one day and gave me this ghost bandana as a birthday present. I asked him to take me with him, but he didn't let me go. So I...I stole my dad's old Archer uniform and left."
Blades raised an eyebrow. "No note to your parents?"
"No, they wouldn't have let me even if I left a note or told them. They'd go looking for me everyone and bring me back!" Matt shook his head. "But I really want to help!"
"Of course they wouldn't let you go! It's dangerous," Rya said sternly. "Why else do you think that they would only allow 13-year-olds and up to go fight off monsters?"
Blades turned to Daisuke as Rya tended to the little Archer boy. "Daisuke, you said Kania kidnapped people that looked like us; Matt doesn't look remotely like anyone in our group, and he is an Archer, which none of us are! Actually, Daisuke, he sort of looks like you if you tilt your head over like that."
Daisuke looked deep in thought. "So she's out hunting for me now..."
-
Shishkabob navigated the hallways, trying to remember exactly where the exit was. After series of dead ends, complaints and frustration, Shishkabob led them to what seemed to be the exit. "Guys, I think this is it..."
Each of them stared at each other. If they took a wrong way out, there was no telling how they could get back to Prontera.
"Ladies first," Paroid laughed nervously. For once, he wasn't sure of where the warp portal led them.
"That means you," Shishkabob replied mockingly.
"Hey! I resent that!"
Shishkabob laughed as she entered the warp portal, but not after saying jokingly, "If we end up in a dangerous place, my corpse will give it away!"
-
"What do you mean "hunting" for you?" Blades questioned.
"I am Kania's former helper. She dismissed me and is no doubt trying to track me down to kill me before I ruin her plans. She made the mistake of letting me go instead of killing me on the spot. I believe she is now kidnapping everyone who looks slightly similar to me, as she had done to you," Daisuke explained.
"Wait, you're dressed as a –" Blades began.
"She is not stupid, Swordsman. She would think I changed uniforms to hide from her, which I was planning to do."
Matt was completely lost. "I don't get it..."
"It's a long story, Matt," Rya sighed. "Maybe we'll explain to you later. We have to get out."
"But it is a shame, for the little Archer will never hear of it."
The quartet whirled around to face the broken door. Khaos stood, grinning, at the remains of the exit. He was blocking their only means of escape.
-
"We're in the Alberta fields!"
Evol did a small victory dance. Ramza happily joined in.
"Oh yeah, baby! We –" Evol was cut short as he stepped on an unnoticed Poring and slipped on it. In the process of falling, a couple of his belongings fell out of his pack. The Poring greedily looted all the fallen contents and began bouncing away.
"You little bitch! Give me back my stuff!" Evol shouted angrily as he summoned his favorite spell. "Fireball!"
The Poring practically exploded and the contents it was carrying were covered with a mess of pink blobs.
"No need to get worried over a little Poring!" Skoo laughed.
"The point is we're free, but..." Payon looked back on the ground, hoping to see Rya and Blades appear from the hidden warp portal. "Rya and Blades..."
"If Daisuke led us in to help us, I'm sure he would help those two," Shishkabob said reassuringly. The six looked grimly over the plains of Alberta. Hoping the best to their two companions, they slowly made their way to the docks, where everything had began.