Disclaimer: Don't own Skies of Arcadia… that pleasure will belong to me when I RULE THE WORLD, cough cough
-Chapter 6: A Race Against Time: Goodbye To The Fallen King-
Shoryu looked in awe for a moment at the giant blue bird as it blew wind at all the advancing ships. "Bluheim, you bastard… Why haven't they killed you?" Shoryu clinched the railing for a moment, then turned towards the door. He ran through it and up to the deck where Vyse and Gilder were already trying to navigate around Blueheim.
"Shoryu, good timing. Any ideas?" Gilder asked as the door behind Shoryu closed. Vyse then slowed the Delphinus to half speed and turned to Gilder.
"No need, I already have a plan, Gilder, but I'm gonna need you as bait." Vyse smiled coyly and Shoryu looked on clueless. Gilder wasn't very happy about being bait.
"Bait? Aww, Vyse, I know I'm always looking for adventure, but I haven't found enough women yet… I can't die." Gilder frowned.
"Don't worry, guys.. look port side." Vyse pointed outside and Shoryu and Gilder looked. A very small figure, barely visible, object seemed to be moving towards Yafutoma. "Do you know what that is?"
"Kamroh!" Shoryu's eyes burned with a fiery blaze, and suddenly the bridge of the Delphinus became very hot. Vyse looked at Shoryu curiously for a minute, as if he saw something in Shoryu that he had seen before. "You bastard!" Shoryu turned to Vyse so that he could hear the plan.
"Alright, Operation Clara time. What's to happen is Shoryu and I will take a lifeboat towards Kamroh while Gilder will distract Bluheim. You will have to hit him with the Moonstone Cannon though, to get his attention, then high-tail it out of there. See if you can get him to Crescent Isle. But take your time, hopefully we have Fina and the cure… and be able to meet back and battle Bluheim one last time. Any questions?" Vyse looked at his two comrades and smiled. "Let's go!" With that, Vyse and Shoryu ran down to the lifeboats while Gilder stayed behind.
"You know, Vyse. This is the ultimate test of time." Shoryu said as he leaped over the railing down to the lifeboat area.
"What do you mean?" Vyse looked confused as he opened the doors and entered the lifeboat.
"Think about it. We have to defeat Kamroh, who has Fina hostage. If we don't get to him fast enough, he will kill her. After we get Fina back, we have to jet ourselves back to Crescent Isle with the cure and save everyone. Then once everyone is healed, we have to get back to the Delphinus and fight Blueheim. That leaves little room for error. If something comes up, we could very easily have lost many innocent lives. And Gilder, what if Blueheim…"
"Enough Shoryu," Vyse interrupted, " The more we spend time worrying about what will happen, the less time we have to do this. Remember, there is always a way, we just can't give up." Shoryu leaped into the lifeboat and the two headed off after Fina and Kamroh.
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Have they seen us? Fina thought to herself as she was being carried to the Yafutomian continent. She was wearing a stripped shirt that cut off just above her bellybutton and jeans. She felt uncomfortable, but they were all that fit at Nasrad.
"You, woman. We will be at Yafutoma soon. You will stay where I tell you to, and I will deal with those fools." A smile came over Kamroh's face as he came up to the Yafutoma dock. Fina hopped off down to the floor. She felt much better now that she was on solid ground. Fina looked at her hands for a moment. The same hands that touched Shoryu's chest just hours before. The same hands that let Shoryu leave. She clinched her hands tightly and tried to stop the tears from flowing. I wish I could erase this from my mind. The suffering of all those people at Crescent Isle. Vyse's parents, the children... Fina looked west. No... I won't feel sorrow. Shoryu and Vyse will save me. And together we will save everyone. Kamroh grabbed Fina, and she resisted. While resisting, Fina looked behind Kamroh and notice a lifeboat with Vyse and Shoryu onboard.
"Fine," Fina said, "but I want to stay here and watch." Kamroh knew it would be difficult to force Fina to do what he wanted, so he allowed it.
"Fine, you foolish woman, you can stay here and watch the very painful demise of these fools you call friends!" Kamroh drew his two swords and waited for his enemies.
What will happen to the people on Crescent Isle? Will we get back in time. Vyse, Shoryu, please… hurry! Fina clinched her heart as she had done many times before in anticipation.
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"Damnit!" Vyse exclaimed.
"What is it?" Shoryu asked, concerned not for his ally, but how his ally's distress will affect the battle.
"We will have to fight Kamroh in the city. If things get out of hand, innocent people could die." Vyse looked down to deep sky, trying to find a way to not hurt civilians.
"Too bad I guess," Shoryu said, "But sometimes we have to make sacrifices to ensure the lives of those we care about." Vyse looked at Shoryu, again with a confused look on his face. The lifeboat was nearly in range of Kamroh. Shoryu leaped off the ship onto Yafutoma where he was met with Kamroh's blade. Shoryu was unable to fully dodge the attack, and was swiped across his left arm. Fina let out a shriek as Vyse jumped into the air and prepared an attack. Kamroh turned to block Vyse's attack when Shoryu slashed Kamroh across the back. This allowed Vyse to slash him across the chest. Kamroh jumped back.
"Fools! Is it fair that you fight two against one. How about I fight one of you fools at a time, so you can both feel the full brunt of my power!" Kamroh laughed menacingly. Shoryu was opposed to the idea, but Vyse had a sense of honor. He told Shoryu to back off and let him handle it. As the sun began to set, Vyse charged at Kamroh, cutlass in hand. Kamroh rolled under Vyse's horizontal attack, and Vyse blocked Kamroh's counter. Vyse ran towards the end of the dock and prepared a spell.
"Moons… Give me strength… Sylenis!" Kamroh was surrounded by a bubble that made it impossible for him to use any spells. "No more poison for you, Kamroh." Kamroh grunted angrily at Vyse and went in for another attack. This time, he attacked upwards vertically with both swords. Vyse dropped his defending sword. Kamroh attacked again and Vyse had no choice but to use his Sky Fang as a defender. Kamroh knocked the weapon out of Vyse's hands with little effort.
"HeeeehahahahahaahahAHAHAHAHAHA! Fool! Now you will face the wrath of the immortal Kam…" Kamroh stopped. Blood began to drip from his mouth. Looking down, Kamroh notice that he had been stabbed. Behind him, Shoryu pulled his sword out of Kamroh's back.
"Shoryu!" Vyse stood up and backed away from Kamroh, who had fallen to his knees. Kamroh turned around to face his killer, Shoryu.
"Shoryu?" Kamroh managed to say, with blood squirting out of his mouth, "You… tra…" Kamroh turned to Vyse. "You…. have been…de….cei…ved" Shoryu struck Kamroh again, this time, killing him instantly.
"Come on Vyse… we have to return to Crescent Isle." Shoryu wiped the blood off his sword and headed back towards the life boat. How unnecessary, Vyse thought. And what did he mean I have been deceived? These thoughts lingered in Vyse's head. Fina spoke.
"I think… I think I saw the King just as Kamroh died." Vyse looked to Fina.
"What do you mean by that?" Vyse asked.
"The cold, dark green eyes that Kamroh possessed disappeared before Shoryu…" Fina paused, "They turned back into the caring eyes of King Ixa'taka."
"Then perhaps we should give him a proper burial." Vyse said, and looked to Shoryu. Shoryu nodded and went back to the body of the fallen King. Shoryu clapped his hands together, and the body lit aflame. Slowly, the ashes of the King blew away with the wind.
"Rest peacefully, and return to Quetya." Fina prayed. Shoryu hopped into the lifeboat and headed west. It was time to save the people of Crescent Isle…
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A/N: Yes, it's back again. I'm sorry I'm so inconsistent but meh, it's still there for the people of the future. Few things I wanna say. Don't forget that Kamroh was in the Kings body, which is how Fina could see the King again. Ohhhh, and don't forget… what did Kamroh mean by Vyse being deceived? Will Gilder be able to hold off Blueheim until everyone reinforcements arrive? Find out on the next installment of "After the End" Same bat time… Same bat Channel… XxKalasxX Out.