"Over here Master Roivas" a short white figure shouted as it led it's master over to a small bundle laid against an ancient looking tree.
"What have we here lil' buddy?" the taller figure, with sharp green eyes and a pair of pointed ears, wondered as he knelt down to the small package.
"It's a baby that Oui found" the small bear-like figure said peeling the wool blanket from the basket to reveal a small angelic looking figure, with a small crown of soft blonde hair.
"Such a lovely child, but it raises a very deep question... why is it here?" the tall man asked as he picked the child up and took her back to the orphanage.
"Yo, boss, what's with the blanket, found another helpless lil brat?" A small red haired youth, no older than eight years of age, chuckled pointing at the small bundled up girl.
"Why hello to you too, Jingle..." the owner chuckled to his young nephew.
"Look uncle Roy, I told you, my name's Jinn..." the youth grumbled.
"ahh... if your so good with names, why don't you come up with one for this little one" Roy chuckled as his servant, Oui, a small Moogle, which is a small creature with the appearance of a small white bear cub with the wings of a bat and a strange little red bobble object protruding from the crest of it's head, which Master Roivas saved from a vicious meat-eating Rabite... well to be fair their all omnivores... was given the little girl to put into a cradle.
"Well, she is kinda cute..." he chuckled looking down at it, a small braid with a bead at the end draping over her nose.
"gah!" she cooed as she batted at the small bead.
"heh... how about naming her Maria" Jinn chuckled as he placed a finger near her hand as she grabbed it "You agree with me, don't you little one"
Within sixteen years, the young girl found by the ancient tree has grown into quite the lovely little lady. She had been taught the ways of the woods by her uncle, Oui, the way of the humans by her cousin, Jinn, and the way of the elements from her father, Roy Roivas. Today would be the day that would change her life forever...
"Papa, why are you hiding me in the cellar?" she asked innocently as her father closed the door and locked it.
"I am sorry, Maria... but this is the only way..." he sighed before he was cut off by a sword to the chest.
"Where is the child Elf..." the solider demanded turning Roy's body over revealing a look of smugness "What's so funny, pointy ears..." he grimaced placing the blade to the elf's throat.
"You'll never have the goddess of resurrection, the empire shall never get control over the worlds mana..." the elf chuckled before having his head chopped off.
"Not so funny now, is it punk..." the solider chuckled holding the head by the hair, having grown long in the years that he lived in the forest away from the general public.
"Run Maria, RUN!" the head shouted before laying limp in the soldier's grasp, hearing the order from her late father, she ran off, through the ancient passage ways that Oui told her of, as she ran off to the holy city of Wendal, leaving behind all of the pleasant times that she had held so fond in her heart.
"heh... so you think you can hide her from us in the ancient trails... Pathetic, we have a man working down there already, and he's been instructed to kill anyone who passes by" the solider chuckled tearing the door open "Yes, the crimson Shadow will take care of the task quite well..."
"Are you talking to the dead elf again?"another solider asked standing behind him
"no, this is what you call foreshadowing monologue... it's suppose to give insight into a problem someone has to face in the near future"
"Oh, I thought you were possessed by Mr. Hand again..."
"Oh don't start that preposterous rumor that the real emperor is a sock puppet..." the obviously elder soldier muttered covering his face.
"I wonder how far this tunnel goes..." Maria wondered heading down a dark cavern "I bet it goes to the center of the wooOOOOOOO" She shrieked before stumbling on a small stone figure "Ow..." she grumbled, picking herself up before looking to see what she stumble on was "What a strange shape, if only there was some light to show the way..." She wondered picking it up, before it started to shake.
"It is my duty to serve a maiden of such innocence..." it said as it started giving off a bright green light "All I ask in return is a favor..."
"You can talk?"
"Yeah... magic gems tend to be able to do that..."
"Really... so what's this favor your asking for?"
"That you find my body..."
"What?" She gasped clutching the stone, her palm wrapping around the stone's orb-shaped form.
"That's what I said, I'm actually a jumi, well, a jumi stone..." the stone murmured as the light started to focus into a solid stream pointing to a human shaped figure chained to the wall, it appeared as if it was solid stone "There is my physical form,I am a child of the Jumi throne, I have been imprisoned here by the empire after the assault on the Jumi throne, since my stone was flawed I was of no use to them so they separated my body and my mind to weaken me, before they crushed my body, but they had not foreseen the ancient secret of the Jumi, when the guardian and knight are separated for too long, they turn to stone..." the stone murmured before Maria started tapping the stone body "There's a hole in the middle of the chest" it spoke before she placed it in gingerly as a burst of light obscured any form of vision.
"The light... it's so warm..." Maria gasped before she felt a warm hand upon her shoulder as the light started to dim and vanish, returning to the small gem placed into the body.
"Thank you... I am indebted to your kindness..." the figure whispered bowing it's head in gratitude "If you wish, I can guide you out of these caves to a safe place..."
"First I have to know your name" She said lifting his chin to look into his dull green eyes "It's only proper..." She whispered staring into his eyes.
"It is Edgar, of the Jade class, at your service" he chuckled before tearing the chains off, straightening his simple red tunic "Ahh... my body feels so stiff after three hundred years..." he muttered stretching out his body.
"hee hee..." she giggled before he looked down only to find his heart slipping out "Here, let me help you..." she chuckled before pushing the small dark orb back into his chest, further in till it was concealed by his flesh.
"I should have told you this, we jumi only need to touch our core to have power coursing though our bodies..." Edgar chuckled "It's both a blessing and a curse..." he sighed before turning his tunic around so the large gaping hole was in the back "When we reach the next town I have to get a new suit of armor..." he muttered inwardly as he held his hand over the hole in his chest as a warm glow filtered out.
"A living lamp?" she chuckled "Now I've seen everything..."
"Really now... have you ever seen a living onion or a tea kettle that moves?" Edgar chuckled as he escorted her along the path.
"No, I've only heard of these things in fairy tales" she giggled holding onto his arm as to not get lost "Such things exist?"
"Oh, if only the great jeweled city was still around, the beauty of the place would cause someone's eyes to bleed out of their sockets" Edgar chuckled before he stopped and shook his head.
"What is it?" she asked looking at him with a look of concern "Something wrong?"
"No, it's just that you remind me of someone I knew of..." he muttered as he grabbed her hand and started to run, dragging her along "Come on, we can't waste our whole lives in this dank little hole in the ground can we?" he jested as they reached a clearing where light filtered in, only to have it flooded with a dark red light, as a boulder covered the exit "Damn..."
"What is it? What's going on?" She asked, a very concerned look on her face "why is everything the colour of blood?"
"I was hoping it wouldn't still be here... he has come to finish the job" Edgar sighed before dragging Maria over to a small enclosed spot surrounded with spikes and a low roof "Stay here, this is unfinished business..." Edgar ordered before cracking his knuckles "Crimson Shadow, I know your out there!" he shouted as the red light focused into a single ray as a small jester like figure appeared.
"I thought you'd never awaken brave prince..." the jester, the Crimson Shadow said bowing, a hired assassin employed by the empire to get rid of royal families that would become a problem later on "Your the last head on my list, and you know me, I'm very thorough..." he chuckled.
"You bastard... you will never get away with the travesties that you have committed..." Edgar growled clenching his fists "First killing off my parents when I was tied down to the throne, then killing my guardian, no my fiancé in front of me..." he continued moving forward, his fists white from sheer pressure exerted by rage.
"oh ho ho... yes, the lovely miss Sara of the Ruby clan..." the jester chuckled before pulling out a pair of ritual daggers used by Jumi hunters for separating the soul from a Jumi's body and shatter it "To let you know, I kept a vial of her blood and a few shards of her core, if you'd like I will mix them with your own, so you'll be with her in the after life..." he snickered using his frog-like tongue to grab a vial with a strange pink substance with a few specks of stone "How about it, Romeo"
"Bastard!" Edgar shouted before throwing a punch at the wicked clown, only to have a knife penetrate his arm.
"These may have lost their blessing from lord Gnome over the ages, but I've just hit a major nerve... even now the damage is causing blood from you brain to flood down to it, trying to repair it and survive... now you'll be even less rational than before" he chuckled dragging the knife out licking off a line of blood from the edge "Delicious... it has been quite a while since a jumi's blood has been shed, but that will change..." he chuckled as Edgar grasped his arm, struggling to keep his footing.
"Say..." Edgar chuckled straightening out, letting his arm hang limp at his side, a twisted gnarled form of it's original shape.
"What is it now..." the jester sighed "You can only delay the inevitable..."
"Has anyone ever told you that you talk too much?" He chuckled before ramming his left fist into the clown's mouth pulling out the tongue "What's the matter... Jumi got your tongue?" Edgar snickered as he wrapped it around Crimson's throat "The benefit of you having such a big mouth is that you have a big tongue..." he said before pulling it close around the jester's throat, crushing his windpipe.
"Gugg... Haaggg..." he gurgled trying to pull the tongue away.
"Then again, that's the problem with you Ponokians... all talk..." Edgar said dropping the limp clown's body and grasping his arm and slowly moved towards Maria "Sorry if you had to watch that..." he muttered before falling over, unconscious.
"Oh no... I have to get him to a medic!" She gasped, dragging his limp body out of the cavern, able to because during the battle, one of the knives was flung off and ricocheted against a few stones, causing vibrations strong enough to move the boulder covering the exit "Man... it is true... he is made of stone..." she huffed, dragging the heavy body of Edgar towards the exit.
"Hey, what is the holy road doing open..." a altar boy wondered as a large hole in the center of the waterfall was expose, revealing the path the mana goddess first traveled from the Mana tree to the holy city of Wendel, which at the time was just, Wendel. "That's odd... Oh my goddess!" he shouted as he saw a figure lurch out of it "Someone needs my help!"
"Lay off the limestone..." Maria grunted dragging Edgar's limp and rock-like body out of the cave, only to fall out and land in the pool of water below.
"Oh no... are you alright, miss, sir?" the altar boy asked standing near them on the river bank.
"I'm fine, but my friend here needs medical attention" Maria stated before shaking the water out of her ears as Edgar was floating face down.
"I think he's dead..." the altar boy said before Edgar's head popped up "Okay, so he isn't..."
"It'll take more than a stinkin' assassin to put me out of commission..." he gurgled stumbling to the beach before collapsing.
"What was the point of that..." altar boy sighed as Maria wrung her dress out trying to dry it "Oh, your all soaking wet... we better get you to the temple" he said as he put Edgar's uninjured arm over his shoulder and dragged him off, with our hero Maria, following after him.
"I am sorry ma'am, but I cannot help him..." the high altar boy mumbled bowing his head "We of the order of Manus, are not permitted to touch the children of the mines..."
"Why not high altar boy, Alexander?" the altar boy from before asked.
"Because they have had a record of not seeing eye to eye with the church..." Alexander sighed "You haven't been around long enough to know this, but a few years before your birth, the three main races on this globe were at war with one another, the beast-people from the south, the jumi to the east, the wind-callers to the west, and us, the humans from the north... it was a war in which many lives were taken needlessly, and now the nations are still at unrest..." Alexander sighed "I am sorry, but it would cause more troubles that I won't be able to deal with..."
"uh... Is there a jeweler in town..." Edgar groaned holding his twisted arm "I remember my old teacher say that in times of need, those who's job it is to repair jewelry can repair Jumis..."
"You lay down sir... conserve your strength..." The younger altar boy ordered pushing Edgar's body down.
"No... he is right, there is a jumi refugee who makes a living off of repairing the jewelry of the towns folk... go, she can help you..." Alexander said sagely before pointing through the window that overlooked the town, to a small hut on the corner of town
"Yes sir..." the young altar boy said.
"Say... what is your name?" Maria asked as she was carrying the front of the stretcher the temple's staff provided them with.
"It's Walter, but everyone calls me Wally for short" the young altar boy said, as they stopped in front of a quant little hut with a sign that read 'Ye Olde Gem Shoppe'.
"I believe this is the place" Maria said as they slowly placed the stretcher on the ground and knocked on the door "Hello? Is anyone home?"
"Just a second, just a second" A voice called half-heartedly, as the door swung open to reveal an olive-skinned woman of twenty four years, with long amber hair, and a small pot belly and fledging love handles "Ah... the altar boy told me to expect you three..." she said before kneeling down over Edgar "Yeah... I think I can fix him, it'll take a day, but come back again tomorrow around this time, and he'll be as good as new" She said observing the arm.
"I'm not one of your stinkin' golems josephine..." Edgar mumbled.
"Golems? What is he talking about?" Maria asked, having never heard of such a thing
"It's a mechanical device that uses both the powers of gnome and clock-work to emulate the functions of a human... essentially a man-made man" Wally said drawing out a few sketches in the dirt to illustrate his point.
"And she has such devices?"
"But of course, if you wish you to see, come on in" the lady said, picking Edgar up with relative ease.
"Wow... such interesting devices" Maria gasped poking a mechanical butler looking device.
"WOULD MADAM CARE FOR ANOTHER TEA?" it buzzed holding out a tea cup on a small plate.
"Oh, no thanks" Maria said sitting down on the couch as the golem brought over a couple biscuits.
"WOULD MADAME CARE FOR SOME BISCUITS?" it buzzed.
"uh... no..."
"Does it always do that?" Walter asked pointing over to the golem.
"Yeah... how do you think I got this?" She chuckled patting her round middle, as a single shimmer came from her underneath her large sweater.
"What was that?" Walter asked pointing to the small hole near where her where her heart would be if she had one.
"Oh... you know that I'm a jumi from the ol' doof at the temple, that's my core, I'm a guardian of the sapphire class" she chuckled pulling her shirt down "Please hand me the mallet" she ordered holding her hand out.
"Alright, but I don't see how it will help..." he muttered handing her a mallet as she tore off Edgar's right arm and attached a mechanical one "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" he shrieked as Maria rushed over to see what the problem was.
"Jumis can't regenerate bones or skin as easily as humans, it takes time and clay for us to recover, in time this arm made from the same technology as my friend Jim over there" She chuckled pointing to the golem "so don't worry, in time his body will absorb the metal in the arm and make it just as his own"
"But doesn't that seem a tad... painful?" Maria asked pointing to Edgar's face which was scrunched up in pain.
"You have no idea..." Edgar grumbled holding his new arm as Josephine placed a silver coin and a piece of quartz into a slot near the biceps "Ah... so that's how you have all of these golems running around... your using cheap magic to power them..." he chuckled as Maria poked the metal arm.
"so... he's all metally now?" she asked as Josephine chuckled.
"Yeah... now that chunk of quartz should last for until your arm recovers, but you should change the coin every few days to make sure it has enough mana to move" she said rubbing the oil from her hands.
"Heh... you obsession with mechanics finally payed off Josie..." Edgar chuckled standing up "Well, it's been nice, but we probably should hit the road, I promised to escort miss Maria here to a safe town, and you know me... I'm not one to go back on a promise" he chuckled clenching his robotic arm.
"Heh... have fun, prince of thieves" Josephine chuckled as they left.
"So... Walter was it?" Edgar asked as they headed back to the temple, noticing the young altar boys wings.
"Yes, sir?"
"Heh, I abhor being called sir, just call me Edgar" he chuckled grasping the young altar boys hand, shaking it vigorously.
"Ow... that hurts, please stop..." Walter groaned, holding his throbbing arm.
"Man... It's going to take a while to get used to you humans... so frail"
"Says the man who's arm was completely twisted around, showing off his gnarled bones and muscles..." Maria chuckled.
"Hey, if he can't stand a simple handshake he has a lot to accustom to..." he chuckled patting Wally on the back "No hard feelings, right chum?"
"uhh..." he muttered backing away "n-n-none sir..."