Yay, happy times are back, I'm getting ideas! Sorry about the prolonged anxiety over the last chapter, but I was having trouble with how to continue. Now, however, my mind is buzzing with ideas, and I'm ready to share them with all of you!
Melody of Shadow: hehehe…please don't hate me. Sorry if the ending seemed rushed, I'll try to slow it down this time.
D.D.Z.: MWAHAHAHA! Feel the power that I possess! … Okay, that was weird. Allow me to ease your mind as to the fate of the trio.
GoldenSunGeek: that was a weird analogy, but effective all the same. Thanks for the review! Hope you're happy with today's work!
RavenGhost: Toodles again, huh? Oh well, to each his/her own. I was the most comfortable with Mithos back, that's why I chose him. Plus, he's awesome!
Katandshadow: not really gothic, he just uses dark magic now instead of light magic. His wardrobe had to change with his elemental type as well. Do you have an obsession with Drew Carey? Just wondering.
NOTE: "when you see type like this, someone's thinking the words."
Okay, enough of me babbling, it's time I got on to being liked again. Hope this will ease all your worries! Enjoy!
In another part of the forest, a lone traveler wandered between the trees. He didn't look in any direction, but kept his eyes fixed ahead, occasionally checking the tracker he was carrying. He was looking for an old friend.
He wasn't a very tall man, but he made up for his height with a well-trained body and mind. He had light blue hair, dark blue eyes, and slightly pointed ears, the sign of a half-elf. He wore a hard leather vest decorated with red, blue, and gold markings, and white pants. A long, black cape disguised the double-ended sword slung onto his back.
This was Yuan, one of the four Heroes of the Kharlan War, and Leader of the Renegades.
Yuan stopped again, looking down at the tracker. "Let's see," he thought, looking back up to scan the area in front of him, "I should be in range to feel his mana signature." Putting the tracker back into his pocket, he tuned his senses to feel any fluxes of mana.
Suddenly, Yuan felt a large amount of mana welling up from directly behind him! "Stupid tracker!" he cursed, turning around and running for the mana. "I'll need to get that thing looked at when I get back to base." As he ran, he felt the temperature around rise abruptly, which meant to him only one thing: Fire.
After what seemed like ages, he stopped directly in front of a huge wall of flame, which seemed to be encircling a clearing. Yuan tried to see through it, but he couldn't discern anything. Clambering up into a nearby spruce tree, he immediately saw a cloaked figure directly under him, on the other side of the wall.
He had only one chance: Leaping down, he landed on top of the cloaked figure, knocking him out. Taking off his cape and confiscating the cloak from the unconscious mage, he draped the cloak over his own shoulders and covered the mage with his cape. After muttering some choice words, the cloak glowed blue and disappeared, hiding the prone form underneath.
Making sure the cloak hid his face and weapon, he looked up, and was taken aback at what he saw; a hundred mages were surrounding a small group of people. That wasn't what surprised him, though; it was whom they were surrounding; Lloyd and Kratos, accompanied by the ex-chosen of Tethe'alla, Zelos Wilder!
Moving quickly, so as not to attract attention to himself, Yuan caught up with the other mages and matched their speed. As they moved in, he guessed who it was that had rallied all these sorcerers under him: his old friend, Mithos.
"And there he is now," he thought, noticing a tall, cloaked man walking through the firewall. Yuan could feel the intense mana emanating from him. It seemed to draw all warmth from around the clearing, making it seem cold, despite the flames.
As Yuan watched, Mithos cast Judgment on Kratos, Lloyd and Zelos. The full force of one beam hit Zelos, knocking him out. When Kratos confronted Mithos about the spell, Mithos showed him the sword Kratos had given him.
Yuan's eyes narrowed. He remembered how Kratos had entrusted the sword to a much younger Mithos over 4,000 years ago, making him promise that he would only use it to help those less powerful than himself. Mithos had agreed, eyes shining brighter than the blade. Martel had never smiled so much in all her life; she was so proud of Mithos.
He watched, scowling, as Mithos shot Kratos with dark energy. Lloyd went ballistic, and charged Mithos with the material blades. Mithos blocked his attacks, and shot him down while he was in the midst of performing his "Rising Falcon" technique.
As Mithos stood over Lloyd's hunched form, ready to strike down on him with his sword, Yuan made his move: drawing his weapon in the blink of an eye, he rushed forward, just as Mithos brought his sword crashing towards Lloyd's head!
CLANG!
Lloyd opened one eye, surprised at the sharp noise just above him. He had expected to feel a sharp pain for a second, and then see his mother's face again. Yet, here he was, alive. Looking up, he saw a familiar blue haired man standing in front of him, his double-ended sword blocking Mithos' weapon. "Yuan!" he yelled, surprised.
Yuan was hard-pressed to stop Mithos' sword at slicing him through the middle. Looking over his shoulder, he grunted at Lloyd. "You and your father owe me one for this. Are you going to sit there and watch, or are you gonna lend a hand!" Lloyd looked puzzled for a moment, than the reality of Yuan's statement hit him.
Grabbing his swords from where they had hit the ground, He leapt into the air again, yelling as he did, "Yuan! Move!" Yuan jumped out of the way at the last minute, and Lloyd went crashing into Mithos, scoring several hits on the seraphim 's body as he dived through him.
Mithos grunted in pain, his hand on one of the wounds. Spitting out a mouthful of blood, he glared at Yuan. "I wasn't expecting you to show up. How the hell did you find me!" Yuan smiled humorlessly. "Your mana signature. You should have realized that I would be able to find it: You made us train to be able to find you if you were away from the tower."
Glaring, Mithos wheeled around towards the mages, huddled behind him, unsure of what to do. "Retreat for now!" Mithos ordered, "We'll get them another day." Turning back to Lloyd and Yuan, he muttered a few choice words, and sent a wall of fire straight at them.
Yuan and Lloyd were forced to throw up Shields as the intense flames hit them. Just as they were about to be overwhelmed, the flames parted, revealing that Mithos and the mages had disappeared!
"Wh-where did they go!" Lloyd said, looking around the clearing. The wall of fire that had trapped them in had disappeared, leaving a ring of charred grass around the edge.
"They've retreated back to their base, for now." Yuan said, slinging his weapon back onto his back. Turning, he saw Kratos trying to wake up Zelos, who was still unconscious. Walking over, he watched as Kratos sent a wave of healing magic from his palms into Zelos' body.
Lloyd hurried over and knelt next to Zelos. Muttering a few words, he, too, sent a wave of healing magic into Zelos. Done with what he could do, he sat back and watched. Zelos lay still for a moment, than he groaned and opened his eyes. Looking around, he sat up and winced, rubbing his head.
"When did Lloyd learn healing magic?" Yuan asked Kratos, as Lloyd helped Zelos up. Kratos looked over at him. "I taught him since we've been on our journey together. He was slow at first, but he's picked up a few things. He's learned some of the angelic arts as well."
Yuan was slightly impressed, but didn't show it. Kratos seemed to sense it, though, because he smirked at him before turning towards Lloyd and Zelos. Zelos still seemed a bit leery on his feet, so Kratos suggested they find a place to rest for a while.
"That won't be necessary," Yuan said, "I've got two Rheiards hidden nearby, so we can go to the Renegade base to rest." Lloyd would have gone with that, but remembering why they were out in the forest, he stepped forward. "If it's okay with you, Yuan, could we go to Iselia instead?" He asked, "We intended to see if anyone else had been attacked."
Yuan Thought this over, then nodded. "Alright, we'll go to Iselia. I have Information that you three and Colette need to hear anyways." When he walked off without acknowledging their concerned looks, they set off after him. "Oh, one thing first." He said suddenly, and walked over to where the still unconscious mage was hidden.
"I managed to capture this one before saving you," Yuan said, donning his cape again. "I say we take him for questioning." Kratos nodded, and he and Lloyd carried the prisoner off in the direction Yuan was leading them.
Back in the castle in the mountains, Mithos was in a foul mood. Denying the healers attempts to administer to his wounds, he had gone straight up to his quarters in the tower. There, he sat in his chair, gazing down on the terrified mages that had accompanied him on the failed ambush.
"One hundred of my best-trained Magic users could not bring down three defenseless people," he said, his voice dripping with contempt. The mages huddled together, terrified. Mithos put his head into his hand, too angry to do much of anything at the moment. "You will each serve two weeks with no food or water. Now get out of my sight!"
They all scurried to the door, thankful to be alive. After seeing what their master could do, they knew their sentence was light.
Walking over to the projector, he tuned it until he could found the four travelers flying through the air. "Run, my friends," he said, an insane smile playing once again at his lips, "no matter how far you go, no matter where you hide, I will always find you. I will drag you down to hell and make you scream for death!"
Well, there you go! Lloyd and co. made it out of there safe. Thanks for reading, I hope you like it. Please review; they make the world go round!
