Brilliance, a Legend of Mana Story

Chapter 21 -Places of Soul-

Cervantes awoke, reaching for his sword instantly. Kathinja placed a hand on him, meaning to ease him back into his bed, but the motion only served to startle him further. He tried to swing at her, but weak as he was, he could barely lift his arms. She slapped him in the face regardless.

For several seconds, he stared at her in shock, the frown on her features matching the intensity of his surprise. And then he laughed. He laughed so hard it hurt, and the cackle became a grown. Kathinja's frown fell away, and she raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"So, I'm alive..." Cervantes sighed. He nodded to himself, trying to suppress dark thoughts.

"You almost sound disappointed," Mephianse said, appearing from somewhere out of the priest's range of vision. He stood at the end of Cervantes' bed, staring at him, his expression stony and unreadable. Cervantes chuckled darkly, and forced a trembling hand past Kathinja, to the nightstand where his hat rested. With more effort then it should have taken, he pulled it on, tipping the brim to cover his eyes.

"Yes, well..." he began, but Mephianse cut him off.

"You're not from Fa'diel. You're not from the outlands; else you'd be fighting alongside Godhand's forces. You use spells of such foul darkness, I find it hard to believe the land stills allows you to live."

Cervantes grunted. "I don't know. It felt like it was trying awfully hard to kill me."

"Who are you? A demon?" Kathinja asked, her voice quiet and distrusting, but her tone implied something else. She was intrigued. Intrigued by his power.

The question, though it was meant to insult him, made him laugh again, and he clutched his sides in an effort to dull the pain. "Ah...no," he said upon finishing. "I'm a man. Simply a man."

"There's nothing simple about you, foreigner." Kana's voice said. The sight of her among the faculty disturbed him, but he quickly stilled his hand, which had tried to find his sword again. She was surrounded by sorcerers, and in close quarters without any fresh corpses, there was little she could do. The woman in bandages at her side seemed lost in her own thoughts, barely even interested in studying him.

"I don't feel the need to explain myself." Cervantes shrugged; the gesture was uncomfortable.

"You'd better get in the mood quickly, because while you were unconscious, we tested ways to get through your...defenses." Kathinja hissed in his ear. "Those were some intriguing mystical protections you had...but if you think we'll hesitate to take you apart to find out what makes you tick..." she trailed off, letting him imagine what he liked for a threat.

"Heh." The old priest relaxed into his bed, considering. There was little he could do at this point, and while dying in service to his Lord was expected, it was much preferred if you tried to live in His service. "...Fine."

"Where are you from?" "Who do you serve?" "Why are you here?" Everyone spoke at once, bombarding him with questions, and he sighed loudly. "You didn't consider your interrogator before I woke up, did you?"

They silenced abruptly, and he heard a slight amount of shuffling. Finally, Mephianse spoke. "Do you know what's happened to the sky?"

The question caught him off guard, and he was glad he'd hidden his eyes. Mephianse was shrewd, perhaps more so then even the others suspected. "I imagine Kana would know better then I."

Kana replied quickly. "It has something to do with the Mana Fortress, but I can not read the words. I need to know what Godhand is doing. He made no mention of this."

"Hmm." Cervantes pushed a finger under the brim of his hat to peer at her. "What he's doing? Are you telling me you fought alongside him all this time, and have no idea what he's after?"

Kana averted her gaze, blushing red, and Cervantes had his answer. He rolled his eyes. "The world might be coming to an end, there's some kind of spell scrawled across the sky, and you never thought to ask him what he's after."

"You don't know what it is then?" Kathinja pressed.

"No. Its in the language of the Gods, so unless you have one handy, I'd say you give up on trying to translate it and worry about bringing down the fortress."

"Language of the Gods?" Mephianse asked, stunned.

"Yes. Only a God can write it; only a God can read it." Cervantes tried to ignore the sinister red light coming through the windows. "Given the circumstances, I'd imagine it a declaration of the Fortress's original purpose. Something made by a God often brings about showy theatrics."

"The Moon Gods left long ago..." The woman behind Kana finally spoke. Thesenis, if he recalled correctly.

"So who is writing is it?" Mephianse snapped.

"Pardon me for asking, but who cares?" Everyone turned towards Cervantes, eyes wide. He pressed on. "Whatever it says, whatever the fortress was made for...the point is that it's in play now. Godhand has brought it out, and is about to use it. Does it matter if it grants him three wishes or just floats around, blowing things up? It has to be brought down."

Kana said nothing, but Mephianse and Kathinja snapped simultaneously, "Knowing what it says could give us a clue to stopping it!"

"That doesn't make any sense..." Thesenis said quietly. "The Moon Gods are gone...Unless there are foreign gods, or the Mana Goddess has risen again, the message is being written by the fortress itself...or at least, a spell woven into the fortress." Everyone had silenced quickly, straining to make out each word she said. "It wouldn't declare how to stop it...much less in a language no one can read..."

"So the words aren't meant for us?" Kathinja asked.

Cervantes peered intently at Thesenis, trying to figure her out. She obviously knew more then she let on, but how much, exactly? Did she know about him?

"There's a Dark Holy Swordsman in the bed," a Sproutling announced, surprising everyone. The faculty stared at it in shock, and Cervantes in confusion as it scrambled up the sheets to sit between his legs.

"How did that get in here?" Kathinja asked.

"What is it?" Kana asked at the same time.

"Hello," it said brightly, smiling at Cervantes. "Will you be destroying the planet now, or will you wait until Godhand resurrects his wife?"

Elleira was only a short ways down the road when she was assaulted by a cat. It leapt on her back with a loud screech, and the Mana Heroine howled in response, dancing this way and that, trying to fling the thing away. Eventually the struggle devolved into her running frantically in circles, and the cat hanging on for dear life.

And then she tripped over a rock. Lying dazed on her back, she stared at the sky, which swirled around above her without any seeming pattern. After a few seconds, she realized that the cat had stopped mewling nonsensically, and was now speaking.

"Elleira...please...get...off..."

"Great," Elleira murmured. "Now cats are talking to me. I must've gotten a concussion."

"You don't have a concussion, you idiot, now get the hell off me!"

Elleira frowned. "Y'know, I would've thought a voice in my head would be a bit more respectful."

"I am not a voice!" the cat scratched her viciously, raking claws through her hair, and Elleira shrieked and leapt to her feet.

"Ow ow ow!" Elleira rubbed at her head indignantly, scowling at the cat, which started cleaning its claws with its tongue.

"You really suck," the cat said between licks, "at this hero business."

Elleira dropped to her knees quickly, startling the cat. She eyeballed the animal with an intensity she usually reserved for battle, and then grinned. "Hello Daena."

"You know it's me?" the cat asked in amazement. Elleira nodded, and raised her foot, stomping on the cat-girl's tail. Daena howled and hissed for all she was worth, twisting about quickly and latching teeth into Elleira's unforgiving boot. The Mana Heroine cackled loudly. "Who sucks at being a hero, kitten?"

Daena hissed, and rolled around, unable to free herself, and Elleira kept smiling. "Who sucks at being a hero, hmm?"

Finally the cat rolled onto its belly. "All right," she said in a pained voice. "I suck. I'm sorry."

"Aww, kitty," Elleira scooped up Daena before she could do anything, and held her, cooing softly. "How'd you get all...um...non-anthropomorphic?"

"Nunuzac," Daena said, quivering as Elleira stroked her fur. She quite obviously found the position undignified, but Elleira held her gently, and the petting did take her mind from her wounded tail.

"I thought Nunuzac was a conjurer?" Elleira asked, starting off once again towards the jungle.

Daena started purring in spite of herself. "Yes...well...he did conjure. He tried to kill Pearl, and he conjured Freymold."

"What's a freymold?"

"Freymold?" Daena mewed. "Wyrm of Fire? Summoned by Nunuzac to fight in the ancient war? Any of that ring a bell?"

"No," Elleira said. "The only war I was in was a couple of days ago."

Daena hissed in frustration. "Am I the only one who reads those books in Riven's library?"

"You and Lisa," Elleira responded, pausing at a crossroads. "Gah, it's so dark. How am I supposed to find that bloody road...?" She trailed off, as something passed overhead. It blotted out the letters across the sky briefly, and she almost dropped Daena in shock, before realizing it was too small to be Lucemia or the Mana Fortress. "Whaddya suppose..."

All of a sudden the ground shook, and she was flung screaming into the air. More out of Daena's claws suddenly gripping her arms then fear, however. She landed on her backside, and blinked tears out of her eyes. "Why won't this day ever end?" she asked, carefully shifting Daena to one arm in order to rub her bottom.

"Elleira!" Elazul's voice came out from in front of her, and even through the blurry tears, she realized what she was staring at; what had knocked her down. Vadise sat on the road, eyeing her carefully. Elazul and Sierra dropped down off of his back, and ran to her side.

"Are you all right?" Sierra asked quickly.

"Nothing hurt but my pride, and I'm getting used to that," Elleira said, allowing them to help her up. "Found your buddy, huh?" She draped Daena across her shoulder, and then reached under Elazul's cape abruptly, stealing his sword.

She drove it into her own scabbard without waiting for a response from either of them, and headed straight for Vadise. "Let's get going." Her two friends stared in shock as she climbed the dragon's back without even asking permission. She shot them each a dirty look. "Well? We haven't got all day. Err...night. Or whatever."

Elazul and Sierra exchanged looks, and went to her side, Sierra murmuring quickly. "Forgive her; she's had a rough night."

"Damn right!" Elleira snapped. "It's half-past clobbering time, and I mean to beat Godhand's head into the stone until the Fortress cracks in two!"

Vadise made a sound deep in his throat, and took off into the night. Elleira leaned backwards into Sierra, shouting over the sound of rushing wind. "Hey, what's going on?"

"The captivity has weakened him. He can understand us, but he can't speak at all," Sierra said, uncomfortable telling her dragon's weakness to anyone, even Elleira. The Mana Heroine turned more fully in her seat, staring at her incredulously.

"What are you talking about? He just asked me what 'clobbering time' was."

Sierra and Elazul both looked back at her in disbelief. "You...you understood him?" Sierra gasped.

Elleira arched an eyebrow. "You didn't?"

She shook her head dejectedly, and Elazul pointed at the sky. "Can you read that?"

She glanced at the sky briefly, but the wind was making her eyes water. "...Something about the 'rebirth of an angel'. Its not really words, its like...thought across the clouds. If that makes any sense."

The face Elazul made then told her it did not, in fact, make any kind of sense at all. She twisted in her seat uncomfortably. "So uh, let's get to the Mana Fortress."

Vadise rumbled again, and Elleira laughed madly. "God, we'll need them in order to do this. I don't know how many Nanten are left, but even one of them is trouble."

Daena twisted about, turning her little cat head towards Sierra. "If it makes you feel better, she struck her head just before you found us."

Sierra buried her face in her hands. "Dear goddess...we're doomed."