Comments: Sorry for the REALLY long delay on this...I had to do some extra planning. Got a little stuck. This chapter is VERY INFORMATIONAL. Not really boring information though-like math-but I believe it to hold some good stuff in it and hopefully it willhelpexplain some things.Once again, this story is not DIRECTLY linked to the game. I've tried to make it seem less gamish and more storish so it get's confusing. Sorry about that, also.
--Author Note: As sad as this is going to be, I am unable to change any character name if it is an actual player character. It's their character and it has to be that way. No need to take things TOO seriously, I write for fun. Hope you get some fun out of it.--
-Thank you for reading, this is one of the few things that makes me happy...hearing from you readers.-
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Chapter Thirteen
Hundreds of miles away from Bastok, deep in the Kolshushu Region near Windurst, lay a dark maze called the Labyrinth of Onzozo. Within this maze, only the most daring of adventurers tread for danger lurks around ever twist and turn. Housed inside lie both beastmen and deformed beasts, even rare monsters that the strong hunt. Ose, a legendary cat is a popular creature, yet a rare sighting for some.
Unbeknownst to adventurers, deep inside this maze, a sinister group called "The Circle" gathers and calls their headquarters. Deeper than the kraken's hold, this group performs both murders and hunts, seen by several within Garlaige Citadel awaiting Serket, a monster scorpion that occasionally is sighted below the main floor. Those who have met a member of "The Circle", only say that they are ruthless and self-centered individuals.
"Aaaaaugh!" A scream rang out, echoing through the tunnels.
"Why not spare yourself the misery and tell me why you acted as you did? Why did you leave us, forsake your mission, join another nation, and then assist a tarrrget?" A mysterious man growled.
"N-never…I'll never talk!" A Tarutaru in tattered black mage attire said with a wince as he struggled to free his body from the altar.
"You rrrealize that defying me is only going to hurt you more, Tokurio." The man said. Tokurio stared at the man as he made his way into the dim lantern light. "If you do, why retaliate? I had our mage brrring you back to life. I saved you."
"So?" Tokurio uttered through gritted teeth. "You did not save me out of the goodness of your heartaru. Another thing, how could you have been born a Mithra? Mithra are good-natured. You are hard, cruel, worse than bad gruel! Completely opposite of the race of which you were born!"
"SILENCE!" He shouted. "I despise the fact that women rrrule my race. You think you can just lie there and mock me after all that I've given you!"
Two Tarutaru stood at the sides of the altar, one black mage and one red mage; they looked to the man then to Tokurio awaiting instructions. They were the torture devices of choice. Using the spells Shock and EnThunder while the third member, a Mithran thief, doused the little Tarutaru with ice water. Off to the back sat a Mithran white mage, able to heal the prisoner should he get too close to death.
"Tokurio-Monzisan, you remember that raid, do you not? Years ago, how your family was killed by Plureague." The man said coldly. Toku shook his head, trying to block the images that were being flooded into his mind. "You do, don't you?"
"Leave me alone!" Toku shouted.
The mages beside him looked to their leader who nodded. The mages nodded to the Thief, who proceeded to dump a barrel of water over the Tarutaru. The mages then cast there spells, the black mage went first. Toku winced but did not scream until the red mage hit him. Once the red mage made contact with him, an electric shock flew through him, causing him to scream in pain.
"You already have one of Plureague's creations, why dispose of the other?" Toku asked weakly. "You have enough power to create one yourself!"
"Yes, but I'm not foolish enough to do it." The Mithra stated with a grin.
Toku gave him a confused look, as did the Mithra's followers. "What does thataru mean?"
"You see, there is no perrrfect creation. To fuse the power of two, they must be related, of similar blood. The two must also be young children, even harder to gain access to. Then, the power to be swapped must be equal in both. Then, you have to take their life force and exchange it between them. This process takes the creator's life and drastically shorrrtens it. Can you imagine draining the life of three people to forrrm 2 man-made jobs that may not even remain what they are made to be?" He explained. "The two may become an apprentice to some other job. Forrrming half-job with stronger secondary attributes. Then, controlling them is difficult, becoming too independent; they'll pull from their 'masterrr' and try to be on their own. Plureague's life is ending, only his creations can feel that. His life is given to the creations as they gain experience, which is what makes their powerrrs unstable. Fuck stress, fuck repetition of use, the creations become leeches."
Toku shook his head as he spoke, "It can't be…"
"Yes, both Aonir and Tara have been slowly draining the life out of that Elvaan for yearrrs now. He's lucky to have lived as long as he has. I suppose retirrrement was what saved him. Unfortunately, he lost Tara so she's been a primary leech of life. Then, he let Aonir free, and then she too became a leech. Two at once, his body draining of enerrrgy faster each day. With each spell they cast, with each experience they undertake." He continued.
"Soon, he shall die; the last of his enerrrgy given to them, then, with each cast, the two creations will begin to die, draining their own life forces. Even if they change jobs, whenever they use an attribute from the job they were fused with, their life will drain…until they arrre nothing but dust in the wind."
"NO!" Toku shouted.
"Tokurio, you are a strong mage, I'm offerrring you one, last chance. Rejoin me and be saved from this pain and agony."
"Lord Mirak, Sir Thorin has returned from Bastok." An Elvaan ranger said from the door.
"Let him in…" Mirak growled.
"Lord Mirak…your ruse was a success…" Thorin winced as he fell to his knees. "…perhaps too well."
"What happened to you, Thorin?" Mirak grumbled.
"Well, your prized mage, Tara threw me into a battle with another dark knight, then the San'd Orian's thought I was with Bastok and attacked me. I've been under hell all night. Then, I tried to get a teleport to Tahrongi but Windurst had sealed off entry so I had to take the ship from Selbina. That was hell because the ship was attacked by the Kraken, it nearly threw me overboard. The only thing that saved me was my scythe, had to cling to the side of the ship with it, and with my injured arm, that was no easy task. Then, I had to go through a screening process at Mhaura port, which was shit."
"Ok. I get the point. You had a hard time, too bad the Sea Horror didn't throw you overboard." Mirak growled.
"What's that suppose to mean?" Thorin argued.
"It means, you are expendable."
Thorin burst into laughter. "That's not possible, I have more worth than that black mage, Tara. Besides, I'm the only dark knight you have."
"How…long have you been in the group?" Toku asked weakly.
"Quiet, you!" Thorin shouted.
"That is enough from you, Thorin!" Mirak scowled as he snapped his fingers. Within moments, three beastmasters- one Hume and two Elvaan - rushed into the room. "Take him. We'll use him for the prrroject."
"What a brilliant specimen." The Hume said as he looked over Thorin. "A little beat up though, we'll require the use of a white mage, if at all possible, sir."
"Certainly. Which do you need? Only two of our eight arrre in the area."
"Mirosi-Burios will work. Always fun to bring in Windurstians." An Elvaan said as he brushed his spiky hair back.
"Or Claire. She's from Bastok." The other Elvaan said with a grin.
"Enough, take Claire, she's right over there assisting my team of torturrrers." Mirak said with an annoyed tone. "At least this way my wait for his transformation results won't take too much longerrr."
"What?" Thorin gasped as the two Elvaans grabbed his arms. "Where the hell you think you're taking me? I'm the best fighter The Circle has!"
"Yeah, yeah. Soon you'll be the best creation we have…if it works." The Hume said with a grin.
"HELL NO! Let me go, you bastards!" Thorin screamed, struggling to free himself as they drug him along behind him.
Mirak turned his back to the five- the white mage had followed them- and returned his attention to Tokurio. His golden eyes met Toku's small dark eyes and seemed to pierce into his soul. Toku dared not remove his eyes from Mirak's, he knew all too well the consequences for that. A grin slid across Mirak's lips that made Toku shudder.
"Well, what is your answerrr?" Mirak asked, his tone charismatic. "Will you returrrn to us?"
Toku was silent for a moment, images flashing through his mind of how many people he had hurt, all those he had back-stabbed for The Circle, and all that he had to kill in order to keep his work secret. The pain returned to him in his sleep, even when he tried to run away. The attack in Valkurm Dunes was staged. The crystal he had forgotten led The Circle to him. They watched him and they knew when to strike. The spell, Shock, had finally worn off, allowing him to catch his breath as he thought. To return would mean he would have to hurt others but if he refused, his life would be filled with endless pain. Mirak would never allow him to die from torture, always have a white mage or red mage handy to heal him back up.
"If I join with you again, you must promise-womise me that I will not have to kill anyone ever again. I don't even wantaru to be part of a scheme involving death." Toku explained.
Mirak went quiet, now he had to think it over. Toku was a strong black mage but would only agree to join if he did not kill. Mirak's eyes shot wide with realization, Toku said he did not wish to be involved with a scheme or direct killing but he did not mention anything about being an 'accidental' ploy. Mirak could easily tweak a few of his plans to where Toku would believe he was acting on self-defense, cast a dangerous spell which would trigger a domino effect of events that could- and possibly would- lead to the deaths of many.
"Fine. You have yourrrself a deal." Mirak said with a grin, snapping his fingers which caused the mages to start untying the bonds of the altar.
Toku sat up and rubbed his wrists, covered in cuts and bruises from where he had struggled. The cuts were minor yet so painful that even moving his fingers were difficult. He hopped down from the altar and stared up at the male Mithra who was grinning at him.
"Welcome back, Tokurio." Mirak said with a sly smile. Toku simply rubbed his wrists in pain, making good effort to remain silent.
Meanwhile, farther in, Thorin rest on hands and knees, a chain around his hands and ankles. He fought to get lose but the beastmasters had several tiger familiars in the room to keep him at bay. The white mage, who had already healed Thorin, sat in the far corner replenishing her magic power while she awaited the event. The spiky-haired Elvaan beastmaster walked out of the room and had been gone for several minutes as he went to obtain the solution for the experiment. Claire, the white mage, yawned and sat down, leaning against the back wall as she tried to relax.
"Rogeir, I have the solution but I think we have too much in this case." The spiky-haired Elvaan said as he walked in carrying a rather big wooden box.
"How many we going to make? Ten?" Rogeir, the shaggy-haired Elvaan, protested.
"Look," Said the Hume, "let's just use it all, that way, we won't fail."
"Sure, we shall not fail but we may put upon ourselves a great burden for using all of, Lord Mirak's elixir."
"Bah! He wants a creature, we'll give him one. Use all the damn elixirs and, for god's sake, quit being a baby."
"Grr! Shut up, already and help me get some of these out."
The three looked in at the many cartridges that lay within the box, each row neat and carefully stacked. Rogier was first to grab three of the cartridges. He looked at them then looked to the other two who simply stared up at him.
"Go on, grab some…I guess." Rogier said quickly.
"After you, Jirahale." The Hume said as he pushed the box away.
The Elvaan looked at him with annoyance. "Coward." He, too, took three from the wooden box then stared over at the Hume. "Well, Jake, you going to grab any?"
"No," Jake explained calmly, "someone has to keep the tigers under control."
"Pssht! Bull." Jirahale snapped as he stood up and proceeded toward Thorin.
Thorin struggled, trying desperately to get away from Jirahale.
"What the fuck do you think you're going to do with those?" Thorin shouted.
"What do you think?" Jirahale said with an annoyed tone of voice.
"That's not a good answer, pal!" Thorin stated as he attempted to put his hands together to cast.
"Don't even try using Stun." Jake said as he called one of the tigers to home in on Thorin.
"Damn!" Thorin groaned, pulling his arms down.
Jirahale flipped one of the needles into the air then caught it by the tip, careful not to stick himself. Thorin turned to him and gritted his teeth. Jirahale shook his head then threw. Successfully sticking Thorin with it. Thorin screamed in agony as the solution within the syringe pushed into his system.
Back with Mirak, Mirosi-Burios had arrived and was healing his wounds as well as fixing his uniform. Toku stood in his underclothing while Mirak created another crystal for him to use. Toku looked over to Mirosi to see that she was smiling at him while she mended his clothing. He shuddered when she winked at him then turned back toward Mirak. All was quiet until a loud roar rang out through the tunnel. Small rocks shook lose from the ceiling and fell to the ground, some just barely missing Tokurio's head.
"W-what was that?" Toku stuttered.
Mirak had a grin on his face as he spoke, "Success."
Toku tilted his head to the side in confusion. "Wha?"
Moments later, Jirahale walked in, followed by Jake, both covered into a strange, slimy, goop. Toku held back the gag that the sight was pulling up in him but when Jake spit some of the goo out he had to cover his mouth.
"What werrre the results? Did my alchemist's compound work?" Mirak asked.
Jirahale looked to Jake with a grin and said, "Well, we got a dragon-like monster but the wings did not form properly. We had to use all of the solution to form the wings but doing that increased the mutation."
"And that means?" Mirak asked sternly.
"Well, he's not a living wyvern anymore." Jake blurted out.
Toku's eyes shot wide open but Mirak spoke out, "That is fine. I wanted a monsterrr and we have it. Help the mages move him to Xarcabard. No room for him in this tunnel."
"Sir!" A Tarutaru ranger shouted as he ran into the area.
"What is it?"
"Some adventurers have stumbled upon this area, we'll have to move outaru!"
"Hmm…form a party of six, take Claire as your white mage and you are to play as if this was your camp." Mirak said sharply. "Jirahale, Jake, grab Rogier and those not pulled into party by Kiririt will be with you to move the altar and any sign of our stay including that dragon." Mirak turned to Toku and grinned. "Toku…I'll have Claire crystal warp you to Bastok before the party is formed. I want you to keep an eye on our little Tara."
Toku took a few jumping steps after Mirak only to have a pearl with a radius of one inch thrown into his stomach. Mirak looked to him with a scolding glare, instructing him to take the warp without hesitation. Toku looked to the Tarutaru that had been working on his clothes with a worried look upon his face. His clothes lay neatly folded on the floor in front of the girl, her head low as if bowing. Toku wasted no time in jumping back into his clothes, carefully checking them for any tricks she may have put in them, then slid the crystal into his pocket. Claire walked before Toku and gave him a small smile. She seemed so innocent but Toku could tell that there was pure evil behind that innocent smile. With a wave of her hand, a bright light enveloped Toku, he felt as if his body were dissolving. The tunnel vanished from slowly vanished from sight and only the memory of Claire's smile remained.
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--Disclaimer: This is still not an original world...the character types, races, towns, monsters, some characters (such as NPC's and the like) as well as the world is not from my mind. It belongs to Square-Enix. Thank you for reading and please enjoy.--