Chapter 5: What Would You Do For A Maga Sphere?
It was just after dawn as the ship pulled away from Valua. It was prepared to embark on a special mission involving the safety of the world. None of the Valuan crew members who had been mysteriously decommissioned had been given a reason why to avoid panic. If the people had known of the true danger, there was no telling what might have happened.
The sound of boots on metal filled the halls as one lone figure walked from the bridge to the dining hall. He opened the mahogany door and entered, taking in the saffron glow of the Yellow Moon Crystal. At the moment it was resting upon a dais in the center of the room, but at a moments notice it could be loaded into the MoonStone Cannon to power up the blast with the strength of Yeligar, The Yellow Gigas. This modification had taken Brabham over three months to complete, but now it was fully operational and increased the cannon's power tenfold.
Enrique sighed, then turned to return to the bridge of The Delphinus. It had only been several weeks since he had made an expedition to Soltis to recover the five remaining moon crystals for The Delphinus. They were to have been kept under tight security, but four had been stolen away and taken back to their respective continents. He had been forced to make the decision to allow the other nations to keep their gigas, but with the help of Moegi, his wife, he was able to ensure that the crystals would be securely guarded and never used again. He had never imagined that he would now be forced to break his promise and again quest for these crystals to save the world. More than anything else, though, he was dejected that he had been forced to leave Moegi back at the palace. She was six months pregnant with their child, and they did not want to risk the life of both the mother and the baby. Enrique could only comfort himself with the knowledge that he had made the right decision.
The ship had entered Upper sky and was flying in the direction of Yafutoma, their next destination. After passing above The Dark Rift, they descended back to Middle Sky, just in time to be out of view of the disaster occurring behind them.
Above the Maw of Tartas, a dark shape took form. It looked vaguely like a famous former Valuan Admiral. The legend of Vigoro, the Promiscuous Black Pirate had circled the globe several times. This figure, though, was huge in comparison. A low pitched rumble came from just below the shape, and rings of the blackest light spun around each other in gyroscopic movements creating a huge sphere of negative energy. Darknoth stabbed the sphere with its sword-appendage, and channeled the energy straight down at the ground where Yeligar had once slept for centuries. The blast expanded exponentially in all directions, obliterating mountains, ground, ships, and tunnels alike. The blast extended across the valley, completely reforming the continent. Countless lives of were ended in that single blast, though it never actually reached the capitol of Valua. The blast finally faded away and the meager light created by the thunderclouds returned. From above, the continent seemed as if a giant had taken an enormous bite out of it. When the dust cleared, a full third of the continent had disintegrated, and the population of Valua took another sharp dive, its second in scarcely a year.
The crew aboard The Delphinus knew nothing of this, though. As far as they could tell, they were on an enjoyable voyage to Yafutoma aboard a luxury battle ship, and it would be a very fun experience. Enrique was looking forward to seeing Prince Daigo again, and giving him the good news about Moegi, while Aika and Fina shared explicit stories of what they would like to do if they had a chance to be with Jao and Mao, alone. Gilder dreamed of several incredibly beautiful Yafutoman women he had promised to return to someday after spending a very enjoyable evening with them. Everyone was prepared to have a great time, and were excited when they finally landed at Yafutoma.
Gilder lead them up to Daigo's castle, and were just about to announce themselves to The guards when the doors burst open and several people fell out in a giant melee, all bludgeoning each other with bare fists.
"What The -- come on, Fina, don't you have a spell of something to stop this!"
"No, sorry Gilder. I just used up my last Magic Point finishing off that group of Eloopers with Eternes. And Aika ran out after she cast Sacrulen to save your life. None of us can do anything."
"Okay then. Break it up, you bags of !" shouted Gilder as he forcibly separated the four combatants. When they were all separated, it was possible to see who they were. Daigo, Muraji, Jao, and Mao were all straining to get back at each other.
"All right, let's get this straight. Daigo, what is going on?"
"The Maga Sphere is mine by right! It is the symbol of succession among Yafutoman kings. It is mine!"
"Liar! The sphere is mine! I was promised to become king before Vyse came and ruined everything! It is mine!"
"You both tell untruths! I purchased the sphere from Zivilyn Bane-san and it is mine."
"No brother, The sphere is mine! I gave you the money to purchase the sphere. I will accept it as your repayment toward me. Now give it to me!"
"All of you, simmer down! I need the sphere to save the world! So you guys should just give it to me, I can go save the world, then you can fight over it when I bring it back. How's that sound?"
"NEVER!" shouted all four of them.
"Hmm. All right. I know how we can decide fairly who should get the sphere. Are all of you artists of similar ability?"
"Yes, we are."
"Okay, then. Here's the deal. You will each make a painting of the topic of my choice. I will judge. The winner gets the sphere, but they have to loan it to me to use to save the world. Agreed?"
"This seems fair. My art is the greatest in the world! I will win easily!"
"Don't count on it, Muraji, mine is just as good as yours, if not better, and I will not let myself be bested by a cowardly runt like you!"
"Are you ready to lose, brother?"
"I should be asking you that, not the other way around!"
"Okay, here is the topic: You must paint the most beautiful woman in the world in such a way that she looks incredibly appealing. The one that I find the most beautiful will win, and I will keep all four paintings for my cabin aboard the Claudia. Are you ready? Paint!"
The four Yafutomans painted as best they could, Mao even using his feet instead of his hands to play towards his strengths. After several hours, Gilder called an end to the competition and began the judging.
"The woman I painted is famous for being incredibly wealthy in Nasr."
"What is her name?" asked Gilder as he approached the painting.
"Her name is Osman! I painted her in a bikini to show off her intriguing corpulence!"
"Holy , you are messed up, Muraji! WHAT THE F is wrong with you! Ahh, my eyes, this picture is so, so wrong it hurts! Enrique, please burn this thing now!"
"With great pleasure!" said a blushing Enrique as he tossed it in the air and launched a Pyri spell after it. The cinders landed in the pond and quickly dissolved. Fina and Aika were laughing hysterically in the background as Gilder sentenced Muraji to a life sentence cleaning Tenkou island.
"Okay, next is Jao. Before I come over there, you did not paint Osman, did you?"
"Of course not. You asked for the most beautiful woman. Here she is, Polly the Cook!"
Gilder walked over, took one look at the painting, and immediately flushed slightly. Polly was leaning on a chair, without a shirt on, and looking very provocative.
"Very, uh, well done Jao. However, the woman is not very attractive, though I like the pose. Next is Mao."
"I painted the most beautiful woman on this world: The Kabal Skewer Lady in Maramba! This is her as I last saw her."
"Mao, you probably painted the second ugliest female in the world! What is wrong with you people?"
"You haven't seen mine yet, Gilder." said Daigo. "I think you'll like it."
"We'll see" mumbled Gilder as he approached the final painting.
"I painted a woman I remember from here until she moved away. Her name is Kirala. I remember what kind of stuff you got into last time you were here, so I painted her without clothes. I take it by your wide-eyed, slack-jawed expression you like it."
Gilder, indeed wide-eyed and slack-jawed, just stood there staring at the beautiful painting for several minutes. Finally, Aika grew beet red and dragged him away, dropping him to the ground. Gilder barely managed to say "Daigo wins." before he fell into a sleep-like reverie.
He awoke a half hour later to find Daigo with the Maga Sphere in his hands.
"I believe you will need this, Gilder. Please bring it back next time, though, okay?"
"Certainly. And thank you for the painting of Kirala. I'll put it right on the wall of my quarters so I can see it whenever I want to!"
With the Blue Moon Crystal joining the Yellow one on the dais, the Delphinus prepared to leave. Just as it departed, a Dark Figure appeared just above Mount Kazai . . .