Chapter 7 - The Staff of Destruction
Hey guys, here is chapter 7 of Zero's Dogma. This chapter marks the end of Louise's peaceful days. I forgot to mention last chapter but when Mikhail is a Magick Archer, he is wearing the Golden Lion armor set with the Dragon's Tempest and the Dragon's Vein. He doesn't change clothing between the Sorcerer and Mage vocations. I took a few liberties with the effects of some of his skills. He can cast foci-less magic but it takes a toll on his body. I also tried to expanded on some of the lore in DD concerning the BBI weapons. Mikhail can regenerate thanks to the Regenerate Augment. He basically as all of the Augments equipped.
Grand Anodyne cannot be classified by FoZ standards.
As always read, comment, enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon's Dogma or Familiar of Zero.
Tristain Academy of Magic
"Look out Master!"
"Wha-!" Louise screamed. Louise was pushed out of the way and into safety. Mikhail, however, took the brunt of the attack. "MIKHAIL!"
The golem then raised its fist once more to reveal a downed Pawn.
Louise was stunned. 'Mikhail, dead?' she thought. "N-no, impossible. Get up Mikhail... M-Mikhail... Get up..."
No response from the white-haired man.
"GET UP! I-I ORDER YOU TO STAND UP!"
"...Yes, Master," Mikhail responded. Louise watched as her familiar struggled but eventually stood. Some of his bones were obviously broken, but they started to move back to their proper places. His wounds were also slowly but surely healing.
At the sight of her familiar, Louise regained her composure. Sure, she had been a little grossed out at first, but the emotion faded away as the Pawn returned to normalcy. The man then reached for his bow and summoned a magic arrow. He was still using Vocation: Magick Archer.
Mikhail looked through the magic reticle and looked for any magick medallions that held the golem to life. He couldn't find any.
'...Hmm, is the creator still in control of it?' Mikhail wondered. Golems in Gransys were embedded with magick medallions so that the creator does not have to directly control it, giving the golem some semblance of life. 'That makes this much simpler.'
Mikhail readjusted his aim towards the figure atop the golem. He then loosed the magic arrow. The person reacted accordingly and brought the golem's hand up to intercept the arrow. Unfortunately for them, they had never seen a magic arrow before and assumed that it traveled like a regular arrow. Therefore, they were surprised when the arrow flew around the golem's hand and almost hit them. Luckily, the person reacted fast enough and created a wall of earth just in time to block the arrow.
Mikhail tsk'ed. He knew that the magic arrows were slower than regular arrows and was betting on surprising the attacker to get an advantage. "I guess we'll do this the hard way," Mikhail mumbled. He then casted Ninefold Bolt and fired it.
"What kind of arrow is this!?" the attacker yelled. They maneuvered the golem so that instead of waiting it out, it attacked the arrows. The ice arrows traveled around the fist and flew towards the controller of the golem. While the mysterious attacker was busy trying to avoid the ice arrows, Mikhail was continually firing off more of them.
Louise ran up to Mikhail and after a brief inspection, shouted, "That's probably Fouquet of the Crumbling Dirt! He's a wanted criminal! If you can, try to incapacitate him so that we can bring him to justice!"
Mikhail nodded once and then casted a different spell. The normally purple arrow changed colors into a thick, black arrow. He fired the arrow at the golem instead of Fouquet. When it hit, the arrow suddenly expanded and began suck in anything in the general vicinity. It was so powerful that parts of the golem began breaking off and being sucked in, those parts slamming into the golem and breaking off even more chunks. Fouquet, feeling the strong pull of the arrow, immediately grounded himself within layers of earth.
"What was that?" Louise inquired.
"That was the Vortex Trail. It has a very strong pull on everything except the caster. Notice how you are also being pulled in despite being far away from it," Mikhail explained.
True to his words, Louise's clothes and hair were flowing in the direction of the black arrow. Seizing the opportunity, Louise pointed her wand at the golem and fired off a few fire spells to no avail. The golem was simply too durable for the small spells.
Mikhail decided to up the ante. He nocked a flaming red arrow and fired it, with the arrow then splitting into five separate arrows. Each of the arrows embedded themselves into the golem's left shoulder.
"Please cast a spell at those red arrows Master," Mikhail asked. Louise nodded in understanding and did as told. When the small fire spells hit the embedded arrows, a huge explosion erupted, and it blew off the left arm.
Louise looked at the Magick Archer with wide eyes. Sensing the incoming question, the man supplied the answer before his Master could ask it, "Those were the Explosive Volley. Like its name suggests, they explode."
The golem was now broken down immensely, although it was slowly regenerating. The Vortex Trail finally dissipated and Fouquet reemerged from his cocoon of solid earth. He then had the golem try to punch the duo again. Mikhail was prepared this time and easily escaped with Louise. The sudden movement had surprised Louise and show had dropped her wand. When the Pawn stopped and placed Louise back on the ground, the pink-haired Master took out her old wand and prepared to use it. Mikhail went back on the offensive and fired off several magic arrows.
"Fireball!" Louise shouted. She missed the golem entirely and hit the academy wall behind it. The wall exploded, creating a gaping hole. Fouquet, not missing the chance, had the golem position itself by the wall and then he jumped into the building. The golem covered the hole with its massive body and waited. Fouquet soon came back out holding a long box with him.
"Well, this has been a pleasure but I have what I came here to get so I'll be showing myself out. Adieu," Fouquet said before being sucked into his golem. The golem then began to deform like it was melting.
"Damn, looks like he got away," Louise said angrily. The Pawn stared at the pile of earth before him and then faced his Master.
"Are you injured Master?"
"I'm fine."
The other professors finally reached the battle site, wondering what had exactly happened. After explaining what had transpired to here to a professor, Louise and Mikhail had been summoned to the Headmaster's office by Miss Longueville.
Headmaster's Office
"How could this have happened without our notice? Such a large golem had surely required many days of preparation before it could even have been constructed. Have any of you seen any suspicious person running around lately during your patrols?" Headmaster Osmond asked the crowd of professors before him. To answer the question, all of the professors shook their heads. With a deep sigh, the old sage slumped into his chair. He had been to the site of the battle and personally inspected the Vault for any missing items. Everything had been accounted for except one.
With another deep sigh, Osmond began to speak once again, "In any case, we will need to assemble a team to track down Foquuet. He has stolen a most dangerous artifact and it must be retrieved with all due haste. Who knows what nefarious reasons he could have wanted it for."
"What has been stolen Headmaster?" asked one of the professors.
"The artifact is known as the Staff of Destruction. As its name implies, the Staff is imbued with enough magical prowess to completely destroy anything. It should not be in the hands of a criminal, no matter who they are."
"What does he means Master?" Mikhail whispered.
"Fouquet of the Crumbling Dirt has been robbing nobles for a few years now. Although he steals many things, he has never once stolen a life. Every one of his heists had never resulted in the death of anyone," Louise whispered back.
Mikhail nodded and tuned back into the conversation between the Headmaster and the professors.
"Now then, who is willing to track down this criminal and retrieve the Staff?" Osmond asked. When nobody volunteered, Osmond continued, "Is no one brave enough? Do none of you want the honor of bringing Fouquet to justice?"
Out of the corner of his eye, Mikhail watched his Master as she fidgeted a bit. 'No Louise, you are not ready for this quest,' he thought. When he saw that his Master had raised her wand to signal her accepting the quest, Mikhail suppressed a sigh. 'Oh well... At least I'll be there to make sure she is safe. What an ambitious Master I have.'
"Louise? No. You cannot go, it is too dangerous," Professor Colbert scowled. He had been the only one who approached the Headmaster and asked for permission to give chase. The Headmaster denied him permission and deemed his presence at the Academy to protect the students to be more important.
"I was there when Fouquet first attacked and together with Mikhail, we had successfully put Fouquet on the defensive. Because I let him get away, it is my duty to go after him," Louise responded.
"If Louise is going then I am too," Kirche interrupted by opening the door and walking in, raising her wand into the air when she stood by Louise. She had been eavesdropping throughout the entire ordeal. Tabitha followed her inside and raised her staff as well.
"Keeping safe," she said curtly while nodding towards Kirche.
Knowing that their was no changing their minds, Osmond nodded and spoke, "Very well. It is great to know that this Academy has such courageous students like yourselves," his voice then intensified, "unlike our professors."
At that, all of the professors turned their heads away, unwilling to look the Headmaster in the eye.
Clearing his throat, Osmond continued, "Miss Longueville has already scouted before hand and determined that the Golemhas drained Foquet. He is most likely taking shelter in an abandoned shed not too far away in the nearby forest. Sadly, the Royal Guard has the safety of Princess Henrietta to worry about and cannot lend any aid for now. Please go prepare yourselves at this moment and meet Miss Longueville at the stables. She'll show you the way."
Louise, Kirche, Tabitha, and Mikhail bowed to the Headmaster and then left to get ready.
On the Road
Louise, Kirche, and Mikhail were riding in the carriage while Miss Longueville drove it. Tabitha was riding on her familiar, Sylphid. They had been on the road for about half an hour now and were nearing the place where Foquet should be at.
"So how are we going to do this?" Miss Longueville said, "We can't just march in and capture him. Even though he is drained, he has eluded capture for several years now."
"Hmm, what do you think Mikhail?" Louise asked.
"Fouquet is going to be at his most dangerous now. It would not do to put you in danger, Master. I would recommend you to not attract his ire during this upcoming battle for you are not ready to face a Square-class Mage," Mikhail explained. "Based on what I have learned, Tabitha and I will confront Fouquet while Master and Kirche will provide cover for us."
During the ride, Kirche and Tabitha had explained their magical prowess to the team. Well, it was more like Kirche interpreting Tabitha's short answers so that everyone else can understand her as well.
"Miss Longueville, I would like to know about your capabilities so that I can incorporate you into the plan," Mikhail requested.
"Ah yes. Unfortunately, I'm just a commoner so I fear I cannot help in the actual battle. Sorry for not telling you earlier," she replied.
"I see... Then please stay with the carriage."
.
.
Tabitha and Mikhail approached the door to the shed. The shed was small and had given way to the forces of nature. Mikhail was unsure as to how the shed was still standing with how deteriorated it was.
At his signal, Tabitha blew down the door with a gust of wind while Mikhail went in with his archistaff at the ready. The shed was empty except for a table in the center with the stolen box on it. Mikhail slowly went in and inspected the box with the utmost caution.
Just by being near it, Mikhail felt a strange yet familiar feeling.
Grief, Fear, Despair, Dread, Depression, Regret, Hate.
Anger. Rage. Vexation. Indignation. Fury. Resentment.
Wrath.
'No. It can't be. How can it be here? I was sure that I sealed it away securely,' Mikhail's thoughts were racing. There was only one thing that he could think of to fit the description of the Staff of Destruction. If his guess was correct, then he will need to take drastic measures to ensure it never sees the light of day ever again. He cannot return it to the Academy. It is not safe enough there.
Mikhail slowly undid the intricate seals and opened the box, desperately hoping to be wrong. Sadly, he was right. The box had been heavily enchanted to seal the Staff of Destruction, but it wasn't enough. Even with the seal, one could easily feel the suppressed emotions seeping through. Now that the box was completely open, to say that the emotions poured out would not do it justice. Tabitha, who had followed Mikhail in and was standing behind Mikhail, visibly jumped as if a rod of hot iron was pressed to her back when the box was opened.
Tabitha spun around and looked over Mikhail's shoulder. She looked into the box and saw a bent black and silver staff with red lines running all over it and converging at the tip as if they were blood vessels. The head of the staff resembled an open demonic hand with a blood red crystal in the palm. Inside the crystal was a marking that looked disturbingly like an eye. The marking moved and centered on Tabitha, as if it was staring directly at her.
Tabitha froze. She tried to but couldn't look away. Slowly, she reached towards the staff, as if in a trance. Before she could get to it, Mikhail slammed the box shut and then recasted the seals on it before putting even more seals on it. Tabitha stared blankly at the box before turning her gaze to her outstretched hand. "What?" she asked no one in particular.
"Tabitha, Mikhail! Get out now!" Louise and Kirche screamed. Both Tabitha and Mikhail jumped out of the shed just fast enough to avoid an earthen fist smashing the shed to smithereens. After getting back on their feet, both joined Louise and Kirche on their assault while avoiding any strikes from the golem. The golem was only half the size of the previous one, but it looked far deadlier this time with numerous spikes protruding from its body. Again, the golem did not have any magick medallions on it.
"Master! Fouquet is nearby! Keep an eye out for him!" Mikhail yelled. Although the combined efforts of the three mages and the Sorcerer was admirable, the golem simply kept regenerating and making their progress obsolete. If they wanted to win, they had to strike at the source of the golem instead, namely its creator: Foquet.
'Damn. I don't have enough time to cast my more powerful spells. It's like this golem is permanently in berserk mode,' Mikhail thought. He kept an eye out for the distinctive magic line that connected the golem to its power source, like a metal golem receiving magic from the medallions.
Just then, an idea came to Mikhail. "Master! Use your old wand. Your explosions are much more powerful and should be able to buy us some time!"
Louise glanced over at Mikhail and then back to the golem. Because of their agreed plan, both Kirche and Louise were relatively safe from the golem. Tabitha and Mikhail were seen as the bigger threat so it concentrated most of its attacks at them. Louise, heeding her familiar's instructions, switched to her old wand.
"Fireball!" she shouted. Unfortunately, she failed to hit center mass and blew the golem's right arm off. Before she could cast a second time, the golem turned to Louise and charged.
"Master!" Mikhail yelled. He raced towards Louise, hoping to make it in time. He didn't, but something else did.
A light blue dragon flew done and picked up Louise just in the nick of time before flying over to its master and depositing Louise on the ground. Mikhail changed directions and ran over to Kirche, who had been far enough from Louise that she was safe from the golem's mad charge.
"Kirche! Take this to Tabitha and tell her to escape with you and Master! I'll hold this thing off long enough for you guys to escape before getting to Miss Longueville and fleeing myself," Mikhail commanded.
Kirche, surprised by the amount of authority spoken by Mikhail, could only dumbly nod and then take off to Tabitha's side.
Mikhail attracted the golem's attention for a brief period, long enough to see that Tabitha, Kirche, and his Master was riding on Sylphid and preparing to fly away. His Master did not look happy. In fact, she looked like she was ready to tear someone's head off; probably the Pawn's. Before they could leave, the golem, in a surprising display of agility, jumped up and grabbed the dragon.
Mikhail began to cast a spell but stopped when a female voice shouted, "Stop right there if you want them to live!"
Mikhail stopped and watched as a female with green hair and glasses emerged from the forest with her wand drawn.
"You! You're Fouquet!?" Louise accused venomously.
"Yes, I am Fouquet of the Crumbling Dirt. Now be quiet," Fouquet said. Louise found her mouth covered with earth from the golem's hand.
"You," she said as she pointed to Mikhail, "If you want your Master and her friends to live, undo the seals on the box. Once you do that and I have made my escape, then and only then will I return them to you safely."
Fouquet would have already been long gone by now if only she could undo the seals on the box. She stuck around, hoping to get a professor who could undo them to come here and do it for her. Her employers had specifically requested her to get that done before she could return and collect her payment. And before they would call back their soldiers who were close to her sister's orphanage.
So when an unknown, but clearly powerful mage had just shown up and undid the seals like nothing, she knew this was her chance. And then he just had to redo the seals and add some more onto it. This job was becoming more and more of a hassle, but she couldn't afford to just call it quits. She had too much riding on this to quit. So now, here she was, holding schoolchildren hostage so that she could ensure her sister's safety. Despite not wanting to, for her sister's sake, she would even assassinate the Queen. Her sister's safety was a priority above all else.
Fouquet took the box out of Louise's hands and then gestured for Mikhail to lay down his weapons, his staff and his sword on his back. When he did, Fouquet had immediately encased his entire body except for his arms and face in earth. She then walked over and held the box out in front of her so that Mikhail could undo the seals.
"Miss Longueville, nay Fouquet of the Crumbling Dirt; or do you have a different moniker still? No matter, why do you seek the Staff of Destruction? A person like you who had gone out of their way to deliberately ensure no one dies in their raids have no use for a weapon of such destructive power," Mikhail questioned while slowly undoing the seals. "Do you seek to turn a profit by selling it? If you do, I can surely buy it off of you for a handsome price. Just name it. Or are you perhaps following someone else's will? From your fervent displays against needless deaths, I would think that one such as you would have the will to challenge their orders."
"Shut up and do it faster," she ordered. She had her golem tighten its grip to reinforce her command.
Mikhail glanced towards his captive Master, but continued, "Are you, by chance, being threatened by this person? ...Or is it someone you care for that is being held hostage?
Fouquet then punched Mikhail in the side of his face. "Shut up!"
"...I see. I'm done here," Mikhail stated.
When Fouquet opened the box to make sure he wasn't lying, everyone in the general vicinity suddenly felt one very strong emotion invade their minds.
Wrath.
Taken by surprise, Fouquet dropped the box, with the Staff falling out of it, and her wand and leapt back. Seizing this moment, Mikhail used his body as a medium and casted Voidspell, effectively destroying his prison of earth and freeing himself. Mikhail, quick as lightning, kicked up and unsheathed the newly polished Derflinger. He crossed the gap between him and Fouquet nearly instantaneously and cut her from the left shoulder to the right hip.
"Hah! That's for threatening my partner!" Derf exclaimed excitedly. It had been ages since he had been used and he was near useless against a chunk of earth that could not feel pain.
With Fouquet incapacitated, the golem lost its power source and began to crumble into dirt. Mikhail quickly replaced the Staff and closed the box, redoing the seals for the second time that day. He then wiped away the blood dripping from his nose and searched Fouquet for any spare wands, finding one by her thigh and breaking it. Louise, Tabitha, and Kirche ran over to him.
"What was that!?" Kirche asked incredulously. Tabitha just eyed the box suspiciously. Louise stayed silent, staring at Fouquet bleeding from her chest heavily. She had always known Fouquet simply as Miss Longueville, the stern but kind secretary who she would frequently see in the library. The Miss Longueville who, despite not having known her at at all, had approached her and tried to cheer her up whenever she retreated to the library for some peace and quiet. The Miss Longueville who had reminded Louise of both her sisters. And now here she was, bleeding out before her like a common criminal.
Finally, Louise spoke, "Mikhail, we can't let her die. Not here. Not now. She will be taken into custody and will be tried for her crimes. If she is to receive the death penalty then, then so be it. But we can't let her die now." Louise knew she was lying to her self. She knew that she just didn't want Miss Longueville to die. But she had to pay for her crimes, so the least she could do was prolong her life a little bit.
Sensing the true intentions of his Master, Mikhail responded, "Very well. Vocation: Mage." Mikhail then dismissed his archistaff and drew a different staff instead. The staff was similar to the Dragon's Wit, with a red twisting handle. The head of the staff had four dragon heads stemming from it instead of two and it did not have the large crystal on it. Mikhail then chanted for a brief moment and then casted Grand Anodyne. The healing magic quickly closed Fouquet's gaping wound without leaving a single scar. All of the bumps and scrapes that the team had accumulated during the battle also healed as well. Fouquet was then bound with rope and taken back to the Academy.
Tristain Academy of Magic - Headmaster's Office
After returning with Fouquet, a small detachment of the Royal Guard put her under arrest and quickly escorted her away. Princess Henrietta had already left earlier. The group of four was called into the Headmaster's Office where they debriefed the mission with the old sage.
"I see. To think that Miss Longueville had been the Fouquet all this time," Osmond repeated, as if by repeating it would lessen the pain of betrayal. "I'll send word of your accomplishments to the Queen immediately. I'm sure that she'll reward you three wonderfully for capturing the thief."
"Three? But there are four of us who had partaken in this mission," Kirche questioned.
"The actions of a familiar are the actions of the summoner," was all that Osmond said to get the point across.
"But that's not fair! Darling here had almost single-handedly apprehended Fouquet. He should be the one getting the reward!"
Osmond smiled weakly before requesting the return of the Staff of Destruction.
"I wish to speak with you privately Headmaster Osmond. About the Staff," Mikhail said with steel in his voice.
Recognizing the seriousness that Mikhail projected in his request, Osmond consented and Louise, Kirche, and Tabitha were dismissed. Osmond then casted a silencing spell to prevent someone from eavesdropping.
When he was sure it was safe to speak, Mikhail withdrew the box containing the Staff of Destruction from his Rift Crystal and then began questioning the old sage, "Where did you get this Staff? It should not be here."
"You speak as if you know what it is. Did you open the box and see it?" Osmond replied back with a question of his own.
"Yes, but I'm sure you of all people know that one does not need to actually open the box to know that it is bad news. Now answer my question. Where. Did. You. Get. It?" Mikhail looked calm but in actuality, was just barely holding back his anger underneath his calm facade.
Responding to the implied threat, Osmond recalled his times serving Tristain as the General of the Armies and steeled his own voice, "I was gifted it. Why is this of importance?"
"Because I had been the one to originally SEAL IT! Who released it!? Who gave it to you!?" Mikhail then reined in his anger and took a deep breath, "Sorry, but I cannot give it back to you. You know how dangerous it is. If your Vault can be broken into once, it can be broken into again. I cannot risk this weapon being released into the world again. Do not worry, I shall put it where it should have been and make it impossible to be retrieved ever again. This world is better without it."
"... 'The one to originally seal it'? ... Who are you?"
"Who am I? Heh, I'm the one it was designed to kill." With that, Mikhail replaced the Stalk into his treasury and then left the office.