Author's Note: Sorry I missed an update. Unfortunately, looks like I'll miss many more. Think I have my first case of writer's block. I've run out of ideas. The problem is that the plot for our heroes is very straightforward: go to the mountains, find sister. And anything that happens to them is just me throwing in obstacles, rather than the plot evolving. Vahlahn was given a mysterious past to make this more bearable, but it's still proving very hard. I thought quite hard about this, I mean, Lord of the Rings was just a long journey to throw away a ring with some obstacles thrown in, you knew the plot from the start, and that's one of the most famous stories ever written, so I should be able to pull this off in some way, but I'm finding it very difficult. So I may slow down updates.

This one is shorter than usual, because I just couldn't write anything. On the bright side, you get more hints to Vahlahn's past as aided by the wonderful formula of italics and flashbacks!

MEMORIES OF THE PAST

Vahlahn approached Leine and Maialin, who seemed engrossed in some conversation. He didn't really care what about.

"Leine? You healed?" He asked.
"Yes!" She answered cheerfully. "They even taught me some of their spells!"

"Turns out she never learnt anything from any other profession." Maialin input.

"What do you mean?" Leine asked, confused. Maialin sighed.

"You can't be serious. You know, how everybody has two professions. Like I'm a necromancer, but I also know monk spells?" She muttered something to herself. "You see, now you're a mesmer, and a monk." She turned to Vahlahn. "And Vahlahn here is an elementalist and a-" She paused. "What you are, Vahlahn?"

"Tired." He replied with a smirk. "And hungry." Maialin rolled her eyes, and for once it wasn't at Leine. "So why don't we get some food that we only have to pay for, not cook, while we're here?" He suggested. "And then, I'm going to see if I can something to replace this." He tugged at his own burnt, torn and beaten clothing. Leine looked down at her own.
"Me too." She decided.

"You're going to try and replace Vahlahn's clothes?" Maialin mocked. Leine scowled at her.

"You know what I meant!" She shot.

"Unfortunately, I don't think we can rest here." Vahlahn told them. "The Charr may still attack, and I'd prefer to not be here when they do."

"We might be able to help!" Leine suggested, prompting Maialin to laugh slightly. "Hey!" She protested, realising that Maialin was laughing at the concept of Leine helping.

"Our help is not needed." Vahlahn stated. "Besides, it would slow down our journey considerably." Leine looked around the area. It was dirty and beaten. Mere ruins, now war torn, reclaimed but only for a temporary time, or so it seemed. She didn't want to stay there any longer than she had to.

"Okay, let's go." She agreed, at least knowing her conscience was settled. "But food and clothes first, right?"

"Right." Vahlahn smiled.

Leine emerged from a tent some time later, one set up by a clothier and armourer, dressed in neat, and more importantly (to her at least), clean clothes. She wore boots similar to before, but this time ordained with gold running over them in an ivory pattern, tight green trousers and a new jacket and shirt, similar to before, but newer, cleaner, and ordained with gold around the edges. Maialin stood outside, dressed in new armour, it covered more of her body and was tighter than before, but overall lighter and easier to move in. It seemed to be stronger despite this, black ordained with crimson lining. She smiled to Leine.

"I see you went with the traditional stuff." She smirked.

"What? I like green." Leine replied. "Besides, it's what all mesmer wear, so it's what I wear." She explained.

"Well, this is the traditional necromancer armour, so I can't say much." She shrugged. "Except that armour is better than clothing, in a fight, of course." She added.
"Only if you get hit." Vahlahn's voice came from behind. They turned to see him, slightly surprised to see that he was now cleanly shaven, his greying hair cut shorter and styled neatly and a heavy grey jacket, complete with spiked shoulder pads and short sleeves placed over him. The image of bolts of lightning was proudly sewn on the front, a little touch from the clothier that made it. Long spiked gloves ran up his hands, and he suddenly had the image of being very powerful. More so than just the bad feeling Maialin had been getting before. "And I don't know about you Leine, but I don't intend to." He smiled.

"Hey, I'm a coward, I never plan to get hit." Leine laughed.

"I don't think even the bravest plan to get hit." Maialin pointed out.

"We should move out." Vahlahn decided. "I want to be as far away from this place as possible before we stop to rest. Whatever happens here, it won't be good to be near when it does."

"I hate just running off like this, leaving Pikken Square to its own fate." Maialin mumbled.

"We're at war, we can't be around for every battle." Vahlahn explained. "Now come on." He began walking without saying anything else. Maialin and Leine glanced at each other and followed.

Leine sighed heavily as they stepped back out into the ruins of Ascalon. She looked around.
"Do you ever wonder if it's worth it?" She asked. "I mean, look around us. Who's to say the rest of the world isn't in the same state? Do we even know if the dwarfs have survived up on Shiverpeak?"

"They're alive." Vahlahn stated. "And the Kingdom of Kryta survived too, we've had messengers from there. Orr was less lucky. They say it was just sucked into non-existence." He told her.

"Non-existence?" Leine trembled.

"Nobody knows what happened to it." Vahlahn answered. "The world's in pretty bad shape, but we'll survive."

"I hope so." Leine muttered. "I still remember the Searing. The sky burnt and the oceans boiled. We thought it was the end of the world." Vahlahn's face fell.

"Look what you've done! It's the end of the world!"

"Oh no, this is the new birth. The Charr shall rise, and rule, and I shall be at their side!"

"At their side? Listen to yourself! You're insane!"

"You know nothing of what drives me!"

Maialin smirked slightly.

"Yeah, I remember you crying a lot." She mocked. "Sobbing about how it was all over."

"If I remember rightly, you shed a tear or two, as well." Leine put in.

"I think everybody did, that day." Vahlahn said quietly, lost in memory.

"You were my partner! We were supposed to stop the war, not start it!"

"There was no stopping it. It was always inevitable."

"What do you think we'll find in Shiverpeak?" Leine asked.

"We have to get there first." Vahlahn reminded her. "So worry about that later. We have the journey to accomplish."

"Once we're there we still need to search for Arziel." Maialin pointed out. "That's not going to be easy either."

"How did things get so complicated?" Leine sighed.

"Because we relaxed and never saw this coming." Vahlahn explained painfully.

"You never saw it coming? All those years and you didn't see it? This is why Ascalon deserves its fate. The citizen's of Ascalon are so blinded by their petty wars they'll never see the truth coming, not until the skies burn over them!"

"I cannot allow you to do this! You know I can't! I will stop you!"

Leine scanned the ruins again.
"I miss it so much." She said quietly. "The old life. Family! I lost everybody."

"Me too." Maialin muttered. "Except Arziel. It's funny, I just always knew she wasn't dead. My father was out in it too, you know? He was a member of the Ascalon Guard, and he died in the Searing. But I knew he was dead. But not Arziel."

"Perhaps the Gods are guiding us." Vahlahn said, as if to change the subject. "It's nice to think that they haven't abandoned us fully."

"Where are your Gods now, Vahlahn? Where are they? They've abandoned you as Ascalon burns! And from the ashes of Ascalon the Charr shall rise and rule! Your Gods are gone, Vahlahn! And I am victorious!"

Vahlahn sighed.

"Standing around here all day is pointless." He decided. "What happened can't be changed. We need to get moving." Vahlahn walked away before anybody could protest. Leine and Maialin followed quickly, not wanting to be left behind.