Chapter ten: Fia: Do we have to take this risk?
Defeating demons easily in heaven's gates and arriving in Rosalina, Malice a true grim angel is searching for her friends. "Excuse me; do you know where Ecthel is?" Malice asked gently. "Ahh! Demon! Get outta here children!" The Arcs still remember Malice... How she had tormented them. They got scared.
"Um… Sorry, I'm a grim angel. I'm looking for Ecthel." Malice said a little confused about what was going on. "Whoever that is isn't here! Go and leave us alone you demon!" One of the brave arcs exclaimed. Malice thought for a moment then she said "You are all Arcs aren't you? Then can you tell me where that little Arc who wears a purplish dress with short blue hair is? She has a hat like cat ears and strips over her arms… I think she said her name was Serena… Where is she? Ecthel will be with her."
"What do you want with our Serene? Leave her be!" The Arc exclaimed. "I'm looking for an angel boy named Ecthel. I know he is with another angel, Ledah that arc, Serene and three other sprites." Malice explained. "Who exactly are you looking for?" The arc wondered. "My fellow Grim Angels, Ledah and Ecthel, who are trying to save Riviera. I'm to join them after I'm ready. Now that I'm here… Where are they? Can you please tell me?" Malice asked politely.
"I still don't know who you are or who you talking about. And I won't tell you where Serene is either. I still don't trust you." The arc said clearly still frightened. "… If I was really a demon I'd have attacked you already! I'm not as patient as Ledah is. Where are they?" There was no response so she sighed and decided to try it differently. "I guess I may as well describe my friends' appearance… Ledah is a grim angel who uses a sphere. He has black wings like my own. He usually wears a dark red robe and completed with a bright red cape. He has Yellowish hair. My other friend, Ecthel has brown hair. He has wings like ours but it's more greenish than black and he wears gray-black clothes, lavender shorts and a blue scarf around his neck. His weapon is a sword. She said.
"… That boy… He doesn't have wings…" The Arc was a bit surprised. Ecthel...? The boy who came to meet them with Serene a while back...? He is one of them? "Oh yea! He didn't have his wings back until recently… Please tell me where I can find them. I promise I won't hurt them." Malice said pleadingly. "They live in Elendia as far as we know." The arc answered. "Thank you." Malice goes to Elendia but of course the group is not there.
Walking to the low grounds of the St. Clermont Ecthel and the group carried Ledah into where they first met Iria. Hoping for an answer Ecthel tossed some food into the water so that the undines will notice them. Iria and Aria came out immediately. "Who's there?" "Iria, Aria! … … Do you know anything about… umm…?" Ecthel started but got stuck. "The "Water sickness" something like that…" Serene tried to say. "No, It's the Aqua-poisoning virus." Cierra told them.
"Most of us have been through it. But we still hardly know anything about it. All I know is it attacks the blood supply… And it can be extreme and severe for us sprites for a first time but then if we get infected again… It won't be as severe. What about you undines? And these two Angels? Demons die upon contact…" Fia said trying to Explain the awkward situation. "You are soaked… Did the black virus touch all of you?" Aria asked.
"Yes. We were trying to defeat some demons." Ecthel said assuming that Aria meant the black water. "Black virus…?" Fia asked confused. "The virus that turns water into the blackish color. Kills all demons that touches it… We call it black virus. Others say Aqua-poisoning. It's the same thing anyway. They don't have an effect on us. It attacks the blood supply for a first timer for anything else. Second time it attacks the muscles of the body. And the third nothing that we know of… So as a first timer it'll result in a severe illness. I think that it has a stronger effect on angels than sprites because they live high above ground in Asgard… So rarely they get infected and so their bodies aren't used to the way it is… But that was never proven to be true. You got an angel with you?" Aria explained.
"Two. Ecthel and Mr. Ledah are both Grim Angels." Lina confirmed. "Exactly what does it do to the blood supply or muscles?" Serene asked. "Well… I'm not very sure. But you might be able to find something in the library. All we undines know is that the one infected for a second time the muscles will become weak…" Aria said. "Meaning if we are infected a second time we'll become weak. That explains why Serene was so weak that time…" Cierra reasoned. "Does it mean we can't battle like this?" Lina wondered complaining. "… I hope not… We have to defeat the demons!" Fia said worriedly. "Go to the library and check there. You'll find what you need." Aria suggested. "Alright! Let's go! We better hurry and get out of here!" Ecthel exclaimed. The group hurries up to the Library… Fool and Sage rushed out to meet them wondering what's going on.
Meanwhile Malice flew to Elendia looking for her friends… She hoped that the people there will be easier to deal with than those of Rosalina. She landed in the Grove of Repose near Serene's usual place, Rebecca noticed her. "Hey! Who are you? Are you an Angel?" Rebecca asked. "There are many angels around these days..." She said to herself. "You know about angels?" Malice asked surprised. "Yes. Who are you? Why are you here in Elendia?" Rebecca asked wondering if she has a connection with that other angel that came by speedily looking for Ecthel. Malice's question answered her own. "Elendia? Then do you know two grim angels, Ledah and Ecthel? They settled here in Elendia with four sprites." "I know a boy named Ecthel. He's an angel… but not Ledah. Ecthel has been here for ten years. He lived here with Lina, Fia two other friends and their pet cat. They went to Tetyth a while ago with another angel dressed in red…" Rebecca answered. "That's Ledah! I should be going to Tetyth to join them too. Maybe I'll see you again later. Thank you and farewell." Malice said. Malice flies to Tetyth but finds it flooded by black water… She can't get in. She quickly goes back to Elendia and asks them if they knew anything about the black water.
Fool and Sage finds Ecthel when they are having a tough time battling some demons that's weak against fire. They really needed Ledah's power. Even using the fire from the Lorelei it wasn't enough to beat those demons. So Ecthel decided to use another after a switch back with the sprites. "Hang on guys… We will beat them!"
Formation:
Front: Ecthel Serene
Back: Fia
Weapons: zypher infinite arc rosier holy water
Enemies' formation:
Front: Spider1 Spider2
Back: Plant1 Plant2
The three of them are having a tough time. They are nearly knocked out. The overdrive finally Maxed. "Serene, don't, I'll Mimic Ray! And Fia! Use Holy water…" Ecthel instructed. So Serene attacked. "This should end it Mimic Ray! Such power…" Fia used the holy water to restore them.
Fool and Sage came over. "Look they are in trouble! How can we help them?" Fool asked "Fire works best but we can't help them…" Sage said. "Then what should we do?" Fool asked again. "I don't know… But they might need help… Let's ask." Sage answered. "Sorry, But you can't join or our work would be for nothing." Ecthel said. "How did you notice us?" Fool was surprised. "You were talking loudly enough for us to hear you. You should just leave it to us. You can help with giving us some information about the things we don't really understand. Now, let us finish this battle, and then we'll ask some questions. Serene!" The battle continues.
After two more rounds the energy maxed again. Serene used her over attack as Ecthel instructedwhen the battle began. "Here's my trump card! Serene Absolute!" After Ecthel attacked once more He decided to switch with Lina. "Lina… Come switch with me with your Diana's bow! Then Fia use the holy water…" Ecthel instructed stepping out of the battle fields.
"Wait! We found a treasure chest and this was inside! You, little bow user can use it right?" Fool asked. "Wow! Yay! Volcano bow! Alright! Thanks! Lina's Lava Rush will kill them! Ecthel, can Lina use Lava rush instead of Stardust?" Lina asked. "Yes. Lina, Use Lava Rush every chance you get!" Ecthel said. With the Volcano bow really turned things around.
Fia sprinkled the holy water again and not long afterwards the overdrive was maxed. "I never miss! Lava rush!" Lina did as told. The second Lava Rush defeated one of the Spiders. Fia decided it was time to Sprinkle the Holy Water again so she did twice in a row. Then a third Lava Rush almost knocked out the remaining Spider. It was killed right before the Overdrive maxed so Lina could use another Lava Rush. "I never miss! Lava Rush!" Lina defeated the plants. "Yay we did it!"
Battle ends.
Ecthel thanked them after the battle. "Thanks you two… Who knows when we'll finish if we didn't have the volcano bow. Now I've got a question. Let's move as we ask these questions." "Okay. But we don't have to hurry. The flood has been stopped. But why are you all wet? Were we late?" "Thank you. Well now we can stop and dry ourselves… we got soaked… No, we were battling. The demons were killed by the water as we got out. Do you know anything about the Black water?" The twins were shocked… The Virus was used…? They thought of an answer…
Meanwhile Malice is in Elendia trying to get an answer from Rebecca. She thinks Ecthel is trapped in Tetyth… "Um, excuse me…" Malice said. "I thought you left to find Ecthel and his friends…?" Rebecca asked. "Yea. I did… But I couldn't enter Tetyth… I tried… The entrance was blocked by black water… Flooded. Even Flying I couldn't get through. So I'm wondering about the Black water." Malice asked. "Black water you say…? I don't know much, but Soala or Claude might know something. You can find them in the Crystal cavern. Claude is in the magic guild and Soala is in the back room." Rebecca replied. "Thank you… But how do you get to the Crystal cavern?" Malice questioned."It's just over there; you will find it along that path." Rebecca answered."Okay. Thanks." She flies off and enters the crystal cavern…
Then she found the Magic guild. "Um Excuse me are you Claude? I have a question…" She asked. "What is it?" Claude asked. "Do you know anything about black water? I think my friends are trapped inside Tetyth and that black water is blocking entry. I can't find my friends…" Malice explained while asking her question. "Do you mean the water that has been infected with the Aqua-poisoning Virus? It's deadly for Demons and makes sprites and angels sick… It changes all water into a dark color." Claude asked to confirm what happened.
"What exactly does it do? I'm afraidLedah, Ecthel and the spritesgot flooded…" Malice said. "Don't worry. Lina and the others will be fine since they all caught it before… For the first time it's extremely dangerous. As for the Second time it isn't severe and more bearable." Claude said. "Ecthel has touched it before…?" Malice wondered.
"Yes. They came home after an adventure and all got sick… We nearly lost Ecthel. He managed to survive but barely. The virus attacks the blood stream and dries it up for the first time. Lina and the rest of the girls recovered before things got worse. But Ecthel didn't however and the virus started to attack his arteries and veins. Serene was sick for the second time so she was pretty much fine." Claude explained. "Okay…" She released a sigh of relief…
A moment later she tensed again suddenly… as she thought of Ledah... "But! Ledah hasn't! Oh no! Can you tell me more about what are the effects?" Malice asked almost panicking. "Sorry, All we Elendians know is what I just told you." Claude answered. "That's okay. I'm going to find them now. Thank you." Malice said and flew off. Malice flies off to Tetyth once again.
Meanwhile in Tetyth, After Fool and Sage told them that they only knew of the demons deaths, Ledah wakes up surprised and confused… Ecthel, Rose and the Sprites were all delighted that Ledah had finally opened his eyes. "Ledah…? Ledah, are you okay?" Ecthel asked immediately. "… … What happened…? Ecthel… Where are we?" Ledah asked sounding tired and still weak. "We're on the Mizel Bridge. We're almost done with Tetyth. But, we have to stay a little longer. We are going to study about the black water at the library." Ecthel explained. "… … Study… You? … Heh… I never thought you'd…" Ledah began laughing a little.
Ecthel however looked serious and grim while he spoke. "Ledah, we are going to find anything that can help us." "What do you mean? What's going on?" Ledah asked confused by Ecthel's sudden tenseness… "… Do you remember about that black water we touched? It was a virus called the aqua-poisoning virus. We know little of it and two undines said we can find some information in the Library." Ecthel explained.
Ledah paled even more as his eyes went wide with shock. "… … What! It was that? Ecthel! We all got soaked! It can kill even us, angels after a few days of infection! Are you okay…?" He asked bewildered and you can tell by his voice that he was worried. "… um… that's not it, Ledah, I'm fine. I had been sick before." Ecthel said trying to calm Ledah. "When? I heard all demons that touches it dies upon contact, Sprites get sick and they usually recover before the second and most dangerous stage. But us, Angels… might not get better…" Ledah said.
Ecthel gasped as realization hit. He blurted out... "No wonder! Fia said I was…" Before he could finish howeverhe realized another thing... "No! Then… … Ledah…! … You're…" Ecthel looked at Ledah and started to ask questions. "… Is this the first time for you? What do you mean by the most dangerous stage?" Ledah looked sort of scared and helpless. He started to speak in a deadly low whisper... "… … Blood is drained then it clots up… Veins and Arteries… are attacked in the second stage…"
Ecthel managed to hear this understatement. "You knew…? How did you know all this?" Ecthel asked. (He must have read it before.) Rose said. "… … E-Ecthel… t-tell me… what happened last time…?" Ledah said a little shaking. He knew some of it but he had never known any angels to have been through it. It was just an illness that he came across several times in medical books. Ledah knew that much but knowing what will happen still scares even him to some point. Ledah looked at Ecthel pleadingly "Tell me…" "Ledah! Are you okay?" Ecthel was yet again shocked to see Ledah acting like this.
Not knowing what to say to Ledah, Ecthel quickly turned to Fia "What happened to me last time? Fia, do you remember? I can barely remember what happened." Ecthel said. "Well… For the first part, we managed to return to Elendia…" Fia managed but she hardly remembered much of it herself so Serene cut in. "Claude, Soala and some other Elendians helped and Fia, Lina and Cierra all recovered. But you didn't. You almost died. Then… They said that if you didn't wake up by one night… we'd lose you. And if you did wake up… You will be out of danger. The effects of the virus will be worn out. Something like that." Serene said.
"As if a miracle, that night you started to say something about Ledah and that you won't give up. Then you woke up." Cierra continued. "Isn't there a better way to cure this thing?" Ecthel asked. "We sustained your life by giving you a lot of herbs and nutrition. It's the only way us Elendians know." Fia explained. " … … Then… there's nothing we can do…?" Ecthel asked.
"… We should be going… We don't… have… time…" Ledah said then he fell over in a faint again. "Ledah! Hey! Wake up!" Ecthel exclaimed worried. "Don't worry Ecthel, You survived before… He might be able to… Besides, there might be something about it at the library." Fia pointed out. "You're right we did get better… but … That was with the help from the healers of Elendia… We are trapped here in the middle of Tetyth where it's cold and wet! We had warmth and beds that time! How will Ledah get better here in Tetyth?" Ecthel asked rage and anger shooting through him as hot tears rolled down his cheeks. "We have to go home! For Ledah's sake! I don't want to lose him again!" Ecthel exclaimed. "I agree. We better go back to Elendia soon…" Serene said. "We'll be heading back as soon as we find enough information." Fia agreed.
Soon the group was in the library looking for information. Ecthel has calmed down. While the twins tracked down the demons who activated the flooding system. They dragged them using two of the Viper whips which Ecthel had let them borrow; to where Ecthel was and explained everything of what happened. Ecthel who in turn gave the twins a smile and told the twins to leave. "These are the ones who put in that virus!" Sage said. "Go ahead! Kill them; they will kill the rest of the population of everything with their dreadful trick. Although they are one of us." Fool said.
"They look pretty strong… How did you manage to catch all three of them with only two whips?" Ecthel asked. "Sorry Ecthel… We tricked them. We know it's wrong but…" Sage answered. "Lina is glad. The water can't reach us here and these bad guys are trapped! Yay! We also got two great helpers!" Lina exclaimed. "No Lina… We can't let them tag along with us!" Ecthel said firmly.
"Why? Why! They're good helpers! Ecthel, Take em with us Pleeessseee? Lina wants them to come with us! It'll be fun!" Lina said. "No. Listen! They'll be put in danger. They'd better go. They can't stay. Fool, Sage, Go home. Stay there and don't return here anymore. You cannot handle these demons they are too powerful. You are traitors to them. So it'll be more dangerous. We'll be fine. As for all the help you've done I'll have to make sure that we defeat all the demons that have returned to keep everyone else safe. Then when we are done you can come visit us in Elendia." Ecthel explained as he instructed his friends.
"Okay. Here, we got something for you… These are the weapons these three cheaters were using. We don't really know what they are but they look extremely powerful. You can use them right? We took them after tying them down. We'll be going then…" Sage said handing Ecthel three weapons.
"These are… The Legendaries… The ones we were using…" Fia Exclaimed. "Thanks! We should bring these to Elendians and see if they can tell us what to bring them so that they can make some of these." Ecthel said. As angry as anyone can get Ecthel started to strike at the three demons but due to his hastiness freed them by accident. Ledah who only just woke up saw this and started to protest but before he got a word out the three demons started attacking so the group has to battle.
Ledah watched as Ecthel took the legendary weapons and attacked ragingly… He made his way to the battle to wait for a switch off. Fia saw him and disagreed with his action. Ecthel also noticed that Ledah was up. He decided to battle and talk later."Hey. You should rest, you fainted twice already…" Fia said softly and added. "This is very serious." Knowing Fia noticed his condition Ledah whispered to her"Don't tell Ecthel that this is my first time…" in a low undertone.
"Ecthel knows. You aren't permitted to hide it from him." Lina said disapprovingly."What do you mean little sprite?" Ledah was confused by Lina's comment."She means that your body does not allow you to hide your condition from any of us. Since we have all been through it so we can all see what is going on with you. Getting so pale and fainting a lot… It was what happened with us. So you should just rest!" Fia explained."Yeah… I know, but I have to help…" Ledah started. Taking matters into his own hands Ecthel told Ledah off.
Even though he still felt a little strange telling Ledah what to do. "You stay out of it this time Ledah! The only way you can help us right now is to reserve your remaining energy and focus on recovering!" Ecthel exclaimed firmly then he added "You know more than I do but for the mission, everyone of Riviera and yourself please listen to me and the bit of advice you gave me in my second real battle… Do you remember it?" Ecthel asked a little nerves."I remember… Heh… Now you are ordering me. And you are right too. You have really improved a lot in everything." Ledah said slightly teasing and complementing Ecthel.
Battle:
Members: Ecthel Cierra Serene
Weapons: icicle blade, emerald arc, sparkling staff, potion
Formation:
Front: Ecthel Cierra
Back: Serene
Enemies Formation:
Front: Skeleton Ogre
Back: magician
As the battle begins each using their preferred weapons. The attacks scored some nice damage. These demons are also pretty powerful. "We will build up the overdrive first, and then we'll decide what to do." Ecthel said. The energy in the overdrive maxed after the third round. "Serene try your over attack."
Yay! A new attack again! Serene Typhoon islike Serene Almighty but slightly different. she swings the scythe and hits all front row enemies at first then the last three hits attacks all enemies making look like strong wind blowing the enemy sometimes making them change formations. "Here's my trump card! Serene Typhoon!" It did a great deal of damage.
Everything seemed to be going well butLedah did not look too well. Even though he did not battle he looked as though he was being drained of energy. By the time the Overdrive maxed again the three battling were prettyscratched up. Ecthel had Cierra use her Over skill. Alright! Another attack is down! Cierra's Magical lightening is basic Prominence but with lightening and except it's 3 hits instead of 1 in the end.
"Let's try your magic Cierra!" "I'll show you the power of magic! Magical lightening!" Ecthel kept up with the good work but when a they got hit by three strong rage attacks maxing the overdrive but the group seems to be failing. Ledah notices. "Ecthel! What are you doing? You should…" He called out to Ecthel trying to remind Ecthel it was time to restore but was cut off by Ecthel's confidant reply. "I will. I'm going to use my blizzard, Serene." at the same time telling Serene to not use her Over Skill.
Three new attacks in one battle! Yay! Furious blizzard Ecthel strikes one random front enemy and every hit may freeze the enemies. By the last three hits it hits all enemies on screen. Then like Mimic Ray it heals all members even ones who are not currently in the battlefields divided by the number of total members it heals. "This should end it! Furious blizzard" Ledah was a little surprised to be also reenergized after Ecthel finished attacking. "That was what I wanted to do Ledah, It restored you too." Ecthel said. Then when the overdrive maxed again, Serene finished the battle using her Typhoon. "Here's my trump card! Serene Typhoon! You can thank me later."
Battle ends.
Ecthel glanced over to Ledah as soon as the battle was over with. "Ledah… Are you alright?" He asked still worried about whatthe virus may do to him… "I'm fine! You're new weapon is pretty good." Ledah commented. "Let's look around, We should find more information." Ecthel said. The group started looking through books.
Then Cierra exclaimed "Look here! Poisoned water by virus… Here is a passage about the virus." She starts to read "First time you catch it the virus will attack the blood supply. The person attacked will be weak, dizzy and faints frequently. The virus will stops the circulation system and dries up some blood while draining the blood supply at an increasing rate until the blood supply is low…" "Dries up the blood…? No wonder the Circulation was so slow and Ecthel's heart rate was so weak that time." Fia reasoned.
Cierra continued reading "Then it stops, two possibilities may occur at this point. One of the effects is that the Virus will be stopped depending on the condition of the person. The other is that if theperson infected survived that long it starts to attack the veins and arteries… No one survived this stage so far…" She stops reading and said "I see, that's why not much record has been found… beyond this point" "So that's what happened…?" Serene asked.
"Ecthel recovered it though. The rest of us were cured before the second stage… It must have been hard… The arteries and veins… are very important… No wonder Ecthel was in grave danger… But how did it suddenly stop and become out of danger?" Fia wondered. "Let's see… It says the Virus will kill itself in the process of destroying the veins and arteries… So that if a person survived that long they should be able to recover. If they can survive the destruction of the virus within a certain amount of time and has lots of nutrition which we did give Ecthel-kun enough…" Cierra concluded.
"Is there anymore information or is that it?" Ecthel asked. "Nope, This is it." Cierra said. "Then we should get going to the next place." Ledah said. "No. Let's go home and then we'll stay until we recover… We cannot fight while we are sick can we?" Ecthel said stomping Ledah again… "Okay. Let's go on home. We need to tell this to Claude and Soala." Fia saidagreeing with Ecthel.