Sabie: 5 chapters... This one's either going to get more reviewers, or put them off... I've said too much...

ShadowWolf97: Thanks for the corrections. And yes, Mila is very bright, isn't she?

The Right Hand Of Fate: I am honoured that you think so highly of this story. I hope you'll keep reading, 'cause many more OCs are on the way!

No, I do not own Skies of Arcadia. I do own a copy of SoA Legends, however. If you read about anything that wasn't in the game, I likely created it.

Shadows of Arcadia

Chapter 5

Location: Dark Rift entrance

Stella and Mila stood aboard their new ship, Divine Wanderer, facing the Dark Rift. Even from their position, the black winds of its storm could be felt passing through their hair. Stella stared at the rift with a grim determination: Her fate, and the avenging of her family, lay on her and her alone...

"Stella," Mila said, turning towards her companion, "Are you sure about this? I know that you want to get revenge, but..." The Valuan turned back towards the rift. "How in the moons are you going to fight against a sky rift? In case you didn't notice, it's huge... and not alive, you know?"

"And I thought you knew that we're going after the... thing... Inside the Dark Rift!" Stella replied sternly. "If you don't like it, take the lifeboat back to Esperanza."

"And pass up a chance to risk life and limb inside an eternal storm, looking for something you won't tell be about that, incedently, has the power to destroy an entire island? No way I'm missing out on that kind of thrill!" Mila said, grinning. "I had all the chances to escape I could possibly get when we were in Nasr."

"So you're coming?"

"Darn right I am!" Mila laughed. "I'm going to see whatever attacked you for real, and kick it's butt all the way to the moons! With your help, of course."

"Well, it's your funeral," Stella answered, secretly glad of the help and support.

I spent four years of my life fighting, she though to herself, bounty hunting, defending against monsters, just trying to live another day. I had to be alone... I couldn't let anyone else be close to me, or I'd be afraid they'd get hurt. I was called the Fist of Ice... But I always heard 'Heart of Ice' behind my back. Mila... She's the first person to fight by my side... and it's of her own free will. I didn't want it at first, but now... I don't know if I could do this without her.

"Well then," Mila said, bringing Stella out of her thoughts, "Shall we go?"

Stella smiled at her shipmate. "Let's."

Inside the Dark Rift was not quite like Stella had thought it was. The winds still blew fiercely, but there were all sorts of strange plants, and creatures living around them. Ruins of long-abandoned ships could be seen, their hulls torn apart by either the maelstrom or powerful monsters.

"Wow..." Mila stated in awe, "It's so dark, but almost... beautiful..."

"What are you talking about?" Stella asked, shocked. "This place is responsible for the death of an entire island! How could you see beauty here?"

"Relax. I just mean, I've never seen anything like this!" Mila answered. "I heard that the eye of the Rift is compleatly calm, and in its center is a large black moonstone... Think it's true?"

"Of course it's true!" Stella answered. "That moonstone is where we're going. It's where the Gigas will be..."

Stella stopped speaking, having realized what she let slip. Shoot... I didn't want her to know...

"A Gigas?" You ARE crazy!" Mila shouted. "Don't you know what those things can do? How could there be one anyway, Vyse the Legend destroyed them all!"

"Look, I don't know how, but after the attack, I just... felt, I knew that whatever attacked, the black moonstone was connected to it," Stella answered. "And I DO know what they can do, that why I think it's a Gigas. Somehow... There is one more. A black Gigas..."

The pair continued sailing for a few more minutes, until Stella believed they were close to the center. Then she dropped anchor, and turned towards Mila.

"...What do you mean, I'm crazy?"

Mila gave a small gulp, looking ashamed. "Stella, I'm sorry. I never really thought it when I said it..."

"You don't think I've heard what people think of me? Fist of Ice, Heart of Ice, fighting against a childhood fear... You think I don't know about that?" Stella prepared a Crystales spell, pointing it at Mila. "You must have heard it in Nasrad, because you were stuck on a ship for years... Renegade."

"I... I told you not to call me that! I'm not like them! I had to work every day, fearing for my lives, my family... Sooner or later we wouldn't be useful anymore, but I had to keep faith! It was how I survived! How DARE you compare me to those scum!" Following Stella's example, Mila began charging an Electrulen spell.

The two were at a standstill for several minutes, neither girl making a move. After a while, Mila realized that tears were falling from Stella's eyes.

"I'm... I'm sorry..." Stella sobbed, looking at her robotic arm. "I just... I'm tired of this... I want to end it, one way or another..."

Mila stared at her friend, surprised that she would be so emotional. Smiling gently, she moved towards the controls and raised the anchor.

"Then let's end it. And one way or another, we'll fight together."

Stella smiled in return, although a grim thought had claimed her thoughts:

One way or another, I'm going to die here...

The eye of the Dark Rift was surprisingly large, and empty except for the Divine Wanderer and moonstones scattered through the area. In the center, a large moonstone rested, glowing with a sinister light.

"That's it..." Stella said. "The black moonstone..."

"Really?" Mila asked, "I was expecting it to be larger... Is there anything else here?"

"I'm not sure... Move towards the stone..."

Slowly, their ship sailed towards the very center of the rift. Even the ship itself seemed to fear the energy surrounding it, and Stella did nothing but stare ridgedly ahead. Suddenly, a stray cloud seemed to disobey physics and move from the rift, to pass in front of the moonstone and to the other side. Where the cloud passed a menacing figure now stood, although a black robe hid his face. But it was clear that he was staring at the ship with pure apathy, as if it was simply a fly to be swatted.

"Who... Who is that?" Mila asked, turning to find Stella trembling in fear, staring at the figure.

"It... It's him... He was a bladed serpent before, and it's been four years, but I know it..." Stella said slowly, careful that she wouldn't scream or pass out. "It's... The black Gigas..."

In a sudden, deliberate movement, the Gigas jumped into the air and landed softly on the deck of the Divine Wanderer. He then looked up onto the bridge, his white eyes flashing in the dim light. His gaze passed through Mila, and it was all she could do not to scream in terror, knowing that she'd never stop.

Stella felt the same sensation, although she expected it. It was the same thing that made her freeze in place four years ago, as she watched her family being slaughtered. The target of her rage and vengance now stood before her...

"Mila, follow me down to the deck! This is where it ends!"

After a few minutes, the three figures stood on the deck, the hooded figure facing Stella and Mila. Stella had a pack attatched to her leg that carried her weapons, kunai knives, while Mila had her rifle held over her shoulder, a pouch filled with ammo hanging at her side. The Gigas had no visible weapons, but both girls doubted the mind numbing fear was his only power. Stella was first to speak:

"Who are you?"

The figure paused for a few moments before answering, taking note of Stella's robotic parts. When he spoke, it was in a cold voice, without any thought or emotion.

"You know who I am. You have faced me before, and survived. Not again, I promise you."

He then looked at Mila, almost seeming to calculate their abilities. Not appearing either satisfied or dissapointed, he again spoke in the same cold voice, almost like he was reading a script.

"My name is Blade. I am the Gigas created to destroy all other life for my masters, the Black moon civilization."

Mila stepped back in horror. "The... Black moon? But there are only six moons!"

Blade turned back towards Mila, almost seeming curious at her reaction.

"The revered Black moon lies high above the others, as dark as the night. It only shows it's face in the shadows, as do I."

"So, no one can see it then," Stella added in. "So no one could know about you... Until it was too late. I can tell everyone now, you know..."

"No you can not, because I will kill you here," The Gigas replied. "Even if I didn't... I can see the darkness of your soul, which holds the truth... No one would belive you."

Taken aback by how plainly Blade had stated those facts, Stella drew out one of her kunai.

"So you'll kill me, will you? Not until I get you first."

Seeing that threatining movement, Blade ran swiftly towards Stella. The girl lunged forward with her knife, but the robed figure ducked underneath her and lunged towards Stella's robotic right arm. The movement was over in an instant, but to Mila's horror, she saw that Stella's arm had been sliced almost completely off. Wires were visible through the thick metal, which was half an inch away from being seperated from her body. Stella was kneeling on the wooden deck, clutching her arm as if her grip could repair the slash.

Blade, however, was unharmed, crushing the kunai knife like it was a piece of paper. The robe on his right arm was gone, torn off by a long, thin blade that looked almost like bone. The blade seemed to come from his own flesh, attached by a strange black magic. The Gigas looked at Stella calmly, as if such a vicious attack was an everyday event.

"I already said, I will kill you." He stated. "You shall honor the wishes of the Black moon."

Quickly, Mila aimed her rifle and shot at the robed figure. But as soon as she had fired, he had moved to the opposite side of the deck, and all the bullets could claim was his thick robe. Mila and Stella could both see their attacker clearly now.

He wore a black shirt, pants and boots, the shirt having an exposed chest and connected by a thin chain. His hair was silver, his bangs styled into several wild points on either side of his face. These features, combined with the bone blade and his piercing white eyes, filled both Mila and Stella with an even deeper dread.

Moons, Stella thought, He'll kill us. He has us right where he wants us and he'll kill us, and he doesn't even care about our pain, we're just pebbles in his shoes and he'll shake us out and destroy us...

"Right then," She said as she stood up, still holding her arm, "So I've got nothing to lose..."

Stella released her right arm, still hanging by a small piece of metal, and gripped a kunai in her left hand. Standing before the one she knew to be her killer, she sent a charge of purple magic into the knife.

"Come and get me, you filthy serpent. I won't die until you feel my blow..."

Seeing that she had accepted death, Blade ran towards her, his eyes flashing with an almost childlike thrill. The blade of his arm grew and shaped itself into a lance on his right arm. As he prepared for the killing blow, Stella threw the knife with her left hand, also releasing hundreds of icicles the same shape and size.

"AURORA DAGGERS!"

The two attacks hit at the same time in a great flash of light. When Mila could see again, the sight brought her down to her knees.

Blade's lance had struck true, piercing Stella's left side where there was no metal... Where her heart beat. Mila could see that it had not pierced the heart itself, but her friend would be dead within minutes. Stella's last wish had come true, however, as Blade's entire arm was coated in a thick frost, completely frozen.

"No... NO!" Mila shrieked, realizing that she couldn't win, not against someone so savage, even with a frozen arm. Her rifle clattered to the floor as she saw her friend's blood drip slowly down her dress.

"NO! STELLA!"

Upon hearing her name, Stella slowly opened her eyes, as if each lid weighed as much as her.

"how... how does it feel... you disgusting snake?" She muttered softly, with rage in her voice. "Mila... get out..."

Blade, stunned by the hatred when she spoke to him, walked back enough to pull the lance out of her body. Stella fell back against the deck's railing, tracks of blood coming from her mouth and a grim expression on her face. With cold understanding, Mila realized what she was going to do.

"A sailor's life is a sailor's death," the Valuan began, loud enough so that everyone could hear it.

"We return your body to the sky, so that you will be one with the ocean forever. When the wind fills our sails, we shall think of you, and know that you are with us." She sobbed, reciting a shortened version of a funeral speech for sailors. "Stella..."

The girl, alreadly looking like she had died, smiled calmly at her friend. Then in one swift moment, she leaned back and fell into the darkness. As she fell out of sight, there was a flash of silver, almost like she had grown wings...

Then she was gone.

Stella: ...

Sabie: ...

Stella: You DIDN'T...

Sabie: Yes, I did. But it's for a good reason!

Stella: Well, it BETTER be!

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