A/N: The chapter is finally done! Phew! This took me quite some time to finish, to be honest. Partly it's cause I'm pretty much tied up these days with my work, and partly it's cause I'm not so goodwith battle scenes sobAnyway,Hyuuga, the repetitions are actually flashbacks from the past, with more bits and pieces added into it, which is why it is essential for me to repeat it back once more. Imagine me trying to explain something out of the blue without anyhead or tail of a story! Wenzen, hope this is not too anticlimatic for you. Haha. Cursed-one and L.C. techno, thanks Anyway, hope you'll enjoy this update. Sorry if it does not meet up to your expectations, I'm really stuck at what to write next! >
Chapter 10: The Beginnings of War…
It was daybreak when Alyssa finally entered her room. Wearily, she untied her cape and draped it carelessly on a chair nearby. Throwing her body on the neat bed, she stared above her blankly for a moment. "I am going to find you Constance, so please wait for me," she whispered tiredly as her vision became dark.
"You mock me, puny sage! How dare you challenge the prowess and skill of a lord knight?"
Calmly, the sage watched the blood-drenched knight as he focused his energies into his hands. He said nothing at all, but smiled careless instead. This seemed to enrage the knight even more. He growled with anger and tried to charge towards the sage. But before he could move a step, he was flung backwards by an invisible force. He crashed against the blackened wall and fell into a crumpled heap among the rubble.
Getting up slowly, he sputtered for a moment before spitting out blood. Rubbing his mouth with the back of his hand, he glared at the sage, somewhat surprised. "That is not the strength of a sage!" he muttered to himself.
"You like that, Lord Knight?" the sage taunted. His arms were glowing in an unearthly blue aura and his eyes glittered dangerously. "That, was a particular skill I designed on my own, specially made just for you. You should be honored, since you are the first to actually witness it," he continued as the glowing blue motes danced merrily on his arms.
"Why you-" the knight snarled and prepared to lunge again towards the sage. His eyes turned blood red and wisps of foam began to form at the edge of his mouth. The sage watched carefully at his opponent. Shaking his head, he muttered, "Berserk."
The silver-haired sage stood his ground, mentally preparing a few sigils in his sharpened mind. He concentrated on those few sigils for a few moments before staring hard in front of him, albeit where the lord knight was. He barked something out sharply and bursts of silvery white motes explode from his energized hands. In a blink of an eye, a thick, opaque mist surrounded a vast amount of area around the lord knight.
He laughed sardonically as he watched the expression on the lord knight's surprised and confused face. "You like it, knight? It a skill of mine I'd like to call the Wall of Fog. And guess what? I can see you, but you, oh you are definitely blinded within the fogs," he said. The sage closed his eyes momentarily, calling upon the powers of lightning to aid him. He felt his hands tingling with white-hot energy and smiled triumphantly. "Die, knight!" he snarled, raising his hands in a single, fluid motion. The knight froze within the depths of the fog. Out from nowhere, the thin, jagged strips of raw energy flew towards the knight, piercing through his black armor and killing him instantly.
"You are never to rule Life again, Xanothiem Harlienne!"
"No!"
Alyssa screamed as she sat upright with shock. She stared wildly around her, her nightmare still freshly imprinted in her mind. She took a few gulps of oxygen, willing her heartbeat to slow down a bit. It was only then she noticed she was drenched with her own sweat, and that her hands were shaking violently.
"This cannot be," she whispered brokenly to herself, placing her right hand flat on her forehead, as if to push away those horrible images. She finally know who she had dreamt about; her own uncle. The same uncle Anexia mentioned earlier. But who was the sage in her dreams? "He looked like Shein but that's impossible," she said to herself silently. Suddenly someone pounded urgently at the door, making the alchemist jump.
"Alyssa? Are you in there?"
The alchemist sighed. She knew that voice. It was Shein. "Go away, Shien," she called out grumpily. She wasn't in the mood to talk anyway. The hammering at the door increased. "Alyssa, I know you're in there. Open up, will you? We've got to go, now," shouted the sage behind the closed door urgently.
Frowning with surprise, Alyssa peeled herself from the bed and slowly went towards the door. Upon opening it, she nearly spouted a black eye as Shenzein was still hammering on. "Hey, watch out!" she exclaimed, ducking to avoid his blows. The sage stopped midair.
"Sorry," he apologized, "But we really have to go now."
"Why?"
"Uhh, in case you haven't notice, there's a large mob outside. And guess who are they after, again?"
Uh-oh, she groaned silently. "Fine, fine. Let me grab my cart and let's go!" she exclaimed. Then she noticed Shenzein was staring at her funnily. "What are you staring at?" she demanded. He broke out from his reverie and tried to reply normally, "Err, Lyss? You're all wet…"
Alyssa rolled her eyes. Sometimes, the sage was so dense. "Yeah, I know I'm wet. So if you'll just wait for me downstairs for me, I'll change into something drier, okay?" she said sarcastically, slamming the door at his face. She quickly stripped off her sodden clothes and rummaged her bag for fresh ones. Finally, she added a moon clip on her silky hair. "Just for good luck," she muttered to herself. Dumping the rest of her stuff into her cart, she opened the door and trundled downstairs.
But before she could reach the bottom steps, she heard a terrible commotion going on in the inn. "What in Rune-Midgard…?" she started to say in surprise. Suddenly a blue ball of flame came crashing towards her. Uttering a cry in surprise, she quickly dodged it, feeling the ends of her hair singed as the flame passed her.
"Alyssa, watch out!" cried a voice nearby. The alchemist whirled around to see who was shouting at her.
"Anexia?"
"Alyssa, follor my brother out from here! He'll teleport you to somewhere safer. Now go, hurry! We'll manage just fine here ourselves," the assassin shouted as she evaded a blow from what looked suspiciously like mysts, the lost souls of the fallen earth warriors in Glast Heim. She saw a priest beckoning her to follow and hurried by his side, still feeling rather confused. She heard the sound of metal clanging and grating all around her as veterans fought bravely against the monsters.
"Hurry, step into this portal! You should be safe in Juno for now. We'll meet up with you later," the priest said hurriedly, pushing the alchemist urgently towards the circle of white dancing motes.
"But what's happening?" she started to ask as he continued to push her towards the portal he had opened a few moments before.
"Go now, before it's too late!"
With that, he gave her one last push and quickly closed the portal before any monsters followed close. Astrexil then rushed towards her sister to aid her in her fights. Drawing the energy from the air and forming holy marks from it, he quickly transmit the holy energy he had just created into his sister's body. Almost immediately, Anexia's form became a blurry image as she attacked the remaining mysts.
"Thanks, bro! Go help Shein a bit there, will you? He's getting weaker and weaker," she called out gratefully and indicated towards the tired sage nearby. The sage alone, had to manage about three odd-looking witches that kept on attacking him with their brooms. They were bathories, former shamans from the dead city. Although they were only about two feet high, they could attack viciously with their brooms that they rode on and could resist magic well.
Quickly, the priest summoned up the holy energies once more and channeled it to Shenzein. Next, he concentrated on the flying witches while forming quick sigils in his mind, focusing the expanding energies that flowed in his veins to his hands. Then, without any warning, he lifted his arms and flung the holy lights towards them. Being more surprised than hurt, the bathories scattered, leaving the exhausted sage alone.
Shenzein looked up and smiled weakly. "Thanks," he said. Nodding, Astrexil stood next to him and sent a prayer of healing for Shenzein. The sage felt the holy magic coursing inside him, giving him a warm and fuzzy feeling of comfort. His energy was restored in a flash.
"Now come on, let's take Anne along and get out from here!"
The priest raced towards her sister, gesturing Shenzein to follow along. As he protected her, he grabbed Anexia's arm and literally dragged her towards a spot no monsters had mobbed yet. He hurriedly prepared a teleporting spell in his head as he pulled her there, the sage following closely behind as he sent fireballs towards the errant zombies now and then. Pretty soon, the spot was filled with white, dancing motes, indicating the portal that has been opened.
"Go, go! Alyssa's waiting there for us!" he shouted urgently, blasting a few zombies backwards. The priest pushed his sister into the portal and beckoned the sage to do the same urgently. Shenzein nodded and sent one last fireball towards a greenish undead, known as ghouls, before jumping straight into the circle of white motes. He vanished instantly just like the assassin. Without further ado, Astrexil went straight into the portal, quickly closing it as he felt his body being teleported to the city of knowledge.
The very first thing he saw when he reached his destination were stars that circle annoyingly around his head. Then he felt someone shaking him, like a smokie shaking a fish before devouring it.
"Trexxy, you okay?"
"Eh?" the priest mumbled blearily as he tried to refocus properly.
"Trexxy? You call him Trexxy?" he heard someone said unbelievingly. Shenzein, he presumed from the deep, masculine voice.
The assassin, who was shaking her brother to consciousness, laughed. "Yeah, couldn't say my baby brother's name properly when I was young, so the name Trexxy is stuck till now," she said.
"Can you guys stop talking for awhile and help me up?" Astrexil demanded wearily. After having to use so much energy for battles and supporting everyone else, he felt as though his body was boneless. In other words, he was dead exhausted. Anexia laughingly apologized and helped her brother up before propping him up against a study pillar nearby.
"There, rest while you can. We're going to need all the energy we have later," she said bossily. Then she turned towards the silent alchemist. "Are you okay, Lyss? You look rather pale," she asked concernedly. Alyssa looked at the assassin and smiled wanly.
"I'm fine, Anexia, just a bit confused. What happened back there?"
The assassin sighed.
"Well, it's not really hard to understand what's happening. The Dark Master found you and is now trying to kill you. Those creatures you saw back there were the fallen warriors of Glast Heim, and some were former prisoners from their dungeons, tortured to death and revived back to haunt the grounds of the once-mighty city. Judging from the creatures that tried to attack you, my bet would be that Dark Master is hiding somewhere within the walls of the castle in Glast Heim."
Shenzein spoke up, "So does that mean we're supposed to track down this evil jerk all the way to Glast Heim?" Anexia nodded her head grimly. She glanced at her brother, whom had closed his eyes facing upwards, as if to soak the serenity in the air into his tense body.
"You knew this would happen, don't you, Trexxy?" she asked softly.
The priest opened his eyes and looked directly at his sister, nodding slowly. "I suspected it was bound to happen," she responded quietly. Shenzein looked first at the priest then at the assassin with a confused expression on his face. "Huh?" he asked.
Astrexil looked at him and sighed. "Might as well tell them everything, Anne. Perhaps it would be for the best after all," he murmured, more to himself than to the rest. He gestured wearily to his sister to speak. Anexia looked sadly at her brother for a while before clearing her throat and faced the waiting alchemist and sage.
"Remember those stories I told you before, in the city of Morroc? Well, there is more where that came from. You see, Xanothiem Harlienne is, and will be your relative, but he is not your uncle."
Alyssa looked confused all over again. "Huh?"
"Let me put this is simpler terms; Xanothiem Harlienne is actually more than a thousand years old."
"What?"
"Yeah, he is. Shocked, aren't you? But that's just a small revelation. You see, when I told you your father managed to escape from his death, I did not tell you exactly how. Lysette was merely there to aid him all the way, but not defeating Xanothiem. Your father defeated him. When Xanothiem tracked down your father to the wilderness of Payon, he tried to kill him, but couldn't, because Nexxon Quayshua Harlienne was his great, great, great-grandson. Shocking, but true. Because of the blood that flows inside your father belongs to both Xanothien and his sweetheart, the Dark Master was unable to kill him like he did to the rest. Somehow, Nexxon had managed to sober Xanothiem and contain him in a tablet engraved with protective and binding runes, which was then placed in a secluded and secret cave so that no one would ever find it again. But now, someone had found the tablet and released Xanothiem. And he is still bound to his revenge. This means he'll stop at no end to kill you, Lyss."
Alyssa shivered. This was too much for her. "That means I have the blood of Xanothiem Harlienne in me. I'm the kin of his kind. Will I be just like him?" she whispered to herself, unable to face anyone. She felt Shenzein wrapping his arms around her gently.
"You won't be just like him, Lyss," he said quietly, "You are you, Alyssa Quayshua, sister of Constance Quayshua. You are no Dark Master, nor will you ever be one."
Astrexil spoke up, "Yes, Alyssa. You are not him, because, unlike him, you could still choose right from wrong. Xanothiem had decided to throw away his future and family all for the sake of his love. Would you do the same? Would you try to destroy everything just because of your selfishness?"
He said the last few sentences harsher than he wanted. Alyssa shook her head violently and said unhappily, "I don't know, I just don't know!" The sage tightened his arms around her and said sharply to Astrexil, "Quit it, Astrexil! Stop confusing her!" The priest looked at him and sighed.
"Forgive me, Lyss. I'm being too harsh. Perhaps things are just meant to be…"
Anexia looked at the priest sharply and exclaimed sharply, "No, it isn't! Everything's going to be fine."
"Look, I don't know what the heck are you two babbling about, and personally, I don't even want to know. But can we please find a place to stay first? I don't think camping at the center stage arena suits my taste," Shenzein said impatiently, the alchemist still in his arms. Oddly, Alyssa did not seem to realize that she was still enveloped in Shenzein's arms, let alone felt anything. Her mind was still reeling from the new revelations Astrexil had told her.
The assassin now directed her gaze at the dumbstruck alchemist. "Hey, don't take it so bad, Lyss. Everything will be fine eventually," she said softly. Then, without waiting for a reply, she continued briskly, "Right, let's go find an inn to stay!"