Battleon Surface
Chapter One
Maria surveyed the area. She could hear the distinct sound of Warlic powering up another one of his spells. She really didn't know why he even tried. All of the spells he could even get off before getting knocked back were either weak or had no effect. He joined this battle because he lost his store to this menace.
The oddity of the entire situation they, and subsequently all of Lore, were in was, the entire thing was all Maria's fault. Everything down to the countless numbers of animals that were now running loose, free and otherwise rampant around Battleon, after Aria's store became a memory. She heard a shout, and the memory of what happened came charging back.
Maria was on one of her daily walks to and from the Crossroads. She took one of these walks once a day at least, to stay fit. She had walked the path she was now on many times before with no unmanageable problems. It was just that day that would prove to be difficult with her.
She was unusually tiered after battling a particularly troublesome Deadly Natator. She now trudged down the path weary and exhausted. The small sign that was pounded into the ground ahead of her read "Battleon: 30 miles". 'Oh my god." She thought, almost dropping her Guardian Blade. 'Thirty! Oh, no. Screw that!' She started looking for some place off the road to rest. Even a conveniently placed rock would do nicely. Like that one right there. She saw a medium-sized rock with an indent that, to the weary traveler, would appear at a distance to be a chair. She smiled and walked over, hoisting herself up onto the rock. For a big stone, it was pretty comfortable. The slabs behind her fuctioned like the back of the same chair, and she fell asleep without the chance to say "Drakkonnan".
Which would have been a very interesting situation if some one had tried to say Drakkonnan before she went to sleep. During her rest, she had a dream. In this dream, she found herself pacing around a woman hovering in a beam of light. The footsteps she heard were not her own. They were far too heavy-stepped to be hers. She did, however recognize the owner of the steps. But before she could say anything, she spoke, but not in her own voice.
"RICHARD!" She bellowed in a low, deep voice. From the door she was now staring blew open and a small, shaking little man came scurrying into the room.
"Y-yes, Master?" He stammered. Maria felt herself cross her arms.
"How are we progressing?" She asked, calmly. Almost as if he was relieved at the question, the man called Richard relaxed, his muscles were becoming less-tense. He answered in a confident voice.
"Preparations are progressing ahead of schedule, Master. No one will find where we are. Or at least, not in enough time."
"Excellent. And if they do, by the time they can, Lore will all ready be on its knees before me. You can go." But instead of leaving, Richard simply stared at the woman. Maria laughed involuntarily. "Beautiful, isn't she? Her hair...her figure. All perfect. All mine."
"Are you sure she can bring down Lore...where Carnax could not?" Again, Maria laughed.
"Carnax!" She bellowed. "Carnax is a FROGZARD compared to her! Nothing! I simply used Carnax to soften them up. I was—unaware that Rinoa Shadowgale could have figured out how to defeat him so easily so quickly. And that Maria Despair! She's the real target, Richard."
"Maria? Why Maria?" The little man asked. 'Because EVERYONE loves me.' Maria thought to herself, but voiced a different opinion.
"Because, Richard. If you have forgotten, it was Maria who lost me the use of my hand! That and a great many past injustices..." Maria noted a rather crushed hand appear before her face. It was red with a distinct three-finger design. Drakkonnan. Maria recognized her handy work in the fused carapace. Maria smiled to herself.
"Understood, Master." Maria drew her good hand across the face of the woman in the light. Even though it was not her own body Maria was in right now, she could feel the woman's soft skin.
"Richard. It would interest you to know that this conversation has become, no longer private." Maria mumbled.
"Where is the interloper, Master? I will dispense them instantly!" Maria felt her good hand press a finger to her skull.
"Right here, Richard. Oh, Maria! I know you can hear me!" She heard herself say. "I know you're just burning to intervene. Why don't you? If you hurry, you can catch me before I wake our guest up! I'm in the Dragonspine Mountains. You can't miss me. I hope you have better luck then your friends did!"
Before anything could happen further, she awoke. She surveyed the area. Despite her blurred vision, she could see a pillar of light rising high into the sky from the north. 'The Dragonspine Mountains...' she thought, hoisting herself off of the rock. Her back popped in protest.
"Ow. Okay, that hurt. I must have slept for a long time." She mumbled, taking hold of her chin with her free hand and pushing left then right until a satisfactory pop echoed in her head. She then proceeded to pop her fingers, back and elbows. Twilly always said that cracking your bones isn't healthy, but Maria really didn't care. If it loosened her up after a long nights sleep, it was healthy, no matter what Twilly Ph.D, M.D says.
After sufficiently popping all the appropriate bones, she charged for Dragonspine. Maybe she could meet up with Cyrus along the way...