Chapter 12

Noble Kids are Always Brats

The guards led them upstairs to the throne room on the 2nd floor of the manor where Lord Dran awaited their arrival. The tall Vanguardian gentleman in white beard and long red robe stood up from his throne to examine them. Xeim and Lieber were also present who were surrounded by guards. They didn't seem to have any severe injuries from the interrogation... if it even happened.

"Are these the ones?" asked Lord Dran

"Yes, your majesty." the guard next to Mirage spoke. "They say they're from Gernn."

A young royal swordsman with long black hair standing beside Lord Dran responded, "From Gernn I see... you, the skinny one with punk hair." he set his eyes upon Lieber.

"Huh? Me?" Lieber raised his eyebrows looking back at him a little frantically.

"Yeah, you. What is the reason for your presence in Rashfall?"

"Uhh w-we wanted information on a certain terrorizing organization that has recently set its eyes upon our world." Lieber stuttered nervously.

The young swordsman and Lord Dran shot back a puzzled look at him. "What is there to know? That is for us to take care of. And are you really from Gernn? You look so odd..."

"Actually, your majesty..." Mirage said as she got their attention. "We're from a rural area on this continent far away from both Rashfall and Gernn's civilizations. We don't know of anything that is happening here so we arrived to the Rashfall's royal manor to understand the circumstances. We had to use an excuse so we had no other choice but to say that we came from the west."

"It is hard to believe such a ridiculous story." Lord Dran said as he stroked his beard slowly. "But... seeing as how strange you are dressed and how you look, I am in no position to doubt your claims. I suppose if you're not from Gernn, then we have no charge against you. So you're after the Calamity as well?"

"The Calamity?" she asked.

"Oh, forgive me. I forgot you were unaware of the situation." Lord Dran said as the young man beside him whispered something in his ear. Lord Dran nodded to his whispers and agreed to whatever request he had.

"Guards, let them go." he said as he brushed his long black hair back. "You guys come with me."

He led them to a small room just to the right of the throne. The guards at the entrance of the room were told to leave immediately.

"Why did you bring us here?" asked Xeim as the young man turned around.

"The name's Ascal Ribuel, the Savior and chosen hero of Rashfall. Heh, not to brag. Anyway, so ya guys said you're after a terrorist group, huh? Well since yer not very sharp on some things, let me be so kind as to enlighten on what's going on 'ere."

"Go on." Mirage said as she crossed her arms.

"Okay uhh... where do I start? You guys heard of the historian Neel and the tale of the Shadow Light?" he asked as he looked at the confused look on every one of their faces.

"Hey, this is no time for storytelling." Welch said shaking her fists.

Ascal sighed and shook his head. "Guess i'll just have to tell ya'll. Well, Professor Neel was a famous historian who studied the patterns between the world an' the legendary tale of the Shadow Light. Can't say if it's a true story or just some kinda urban legend but the Shadow Light was a tale about some guy releasing himself from the deepest darkness. Anyway, during his research he theorized that the legendary tale was a parallel reality to our world, basically the events of the tale were to declare our forecoming future. Of course, no one believed him at the time and he only got mocked and ridiculed in return. So he made five prophecies of our future's set path which became known as the five yogens and seeing the first prophecy, he only got more shebazzled by the citizens. The yogens were all written in his notes at different dates but they were scattered around the world shortly after his death. The first yogen was the only one people knew of, and so it turns out... that it came to be true. Seeing this, our ancestors searched for the scriptures with the yogens written by Neel that were scattered throughout the world and we found the four scriptures that contained the yogens and engraved the writings onto four stone pillars."

"That's all quite interesting, young man." Misty said. "But why are you telling us all this?"

"I'm not done yet." Ascal shook his head. "The terrorist group you're talking about is the Calamity which is supposed to bring destruction upon our lands according to the third yogen. We don't know where they come from, but they look very odd like you... just a little different. I suspected you were with them at first, so I requested the guards to release you because it was obvious you guys weren't from Gernn."

'The Calamity... that must be it! The Alliance!' Mirage thought to herself as she listened closely to his words.

"Well, the fourth and what we thought as the last yogen stated that a hero will be chosen on the particular day in the most noble land and inherit the power of Jindou to rid of the Calamity once and forever. That is the task i've been given since birth. Since the third yogen has come true, it is now time to fulfill the fourth yogen. However, this Calamity looks like some strange conglomerate... so i'd be willing to take your help in this task. You guys are after them too, right? Why don't we do this together?"

"Whoa... did any of you guys get THAT?" Lieber asked looking towards his companions.

"Um Sir Ascal?" Mirage hesitated about his offer. "I'm not sure either of us understand everything you've said, but the important thing is that we're after the... uh Calamity. Do you know where they are or what they really want from us?"

"Can't say..." Ascal said in a more serious tone. He was just as curious. "It could be the Jindou."

"Jindou? You're just confusing us more and more, you know." Welch scratched her head and repeated the word over and over as if she had heard of it before.

Ascal let out a huge sigh again. "Not this too, i'll explain later. Okay, anyway those guys are sprawning all over the western continent of Gernn, but i've heard they have a base that exists on this continent as well. If you let me come along, I could show you the way. In return, I want ya'll to tell me everything you know about this and help me fulfill the yogen, alright?"

"It's a deal then." Mirage agreed after some thinking. Xeim and Lieber didn't look like they were completely sure of her decision though.

"Alrighty, then. I guess i'll just meet you in front of Rashfall's entrance, we'll meet up there whenever you're ready to go." he said as he turned around to finish their discussion.

"Why meet at the entrance?" Xeim asked suspiciously.

"You guys are forgetting something. You're probably not prisoners anymore, but ya still haven't gained the full trust of Lord Dran, my old man yet. He wouldn't agree to our request, so we're gonna keep this confidential, no problems with that right?"

Mirage and the others left the manor afterwards and decided to spend some time around the city before waiting at the entrance.

"I don't know, capt'n." Lieber said looking towards his superior. "This Ascal guy doesn't look so trustworthy."

Xeim nodded, "For once, I agree with Lieber. For all we know, he could be there just to keep a keen eye on us. And we are obvious suspects in the eyes of Lord Dran so that doesn't help us either."

"I know." Mirage said as she looked around town calmly. "But does that really matter? As long as he's going to lead us to the Alliance's base on this continent, we can't let anything else worry us."

"Besides, without him we could end up as prisoners again if we're not too careful." said Misty bringing up a valid point in everyone's eyes.

"Anyway, let's just wait at the entrance. I don't feel like sticking around here any longer in this place." Welch said looking worn out.

The others agreed to her suggestion without any second thoughts. Ascal however, was already waiting for them at the entrance just outside of Rashfall City.

"Took you long enough."

"How'd you get here so quickly?" asked Lieber.

"That doesn't really matter now. Alright, now that we're all set to go, we're gonna head north through the Village of Qual, then after we pass through we gotta go through the mountain pass before we can start looking for the Alliance base." he said as others waited for him to continue further.

Lieber looked just as tired as Welch. "Man, it's been a long way. Let's just rest somewhere on the way."

"Looks like this will take a while." Xeim said.

"Not to worry." Mirage replied as they started heading north. "Sir Ascal..."

"Just calling me 'Ascal's fine." he spoke in slightly cocky voice. "Although, I don't mind 'Sir Ascal' either. Heh."

"Okay. Ascal it is then." Mirage nodded. "But there's-"

"Watch it!" Ascal yelled as he threw himself on Mirage throwing her off guard as she fell onto the damp soil.

Mirage stood up furiously but before she could say anything she noticed clouds of green smoke just pass through in front of her. The source of it was a large turtle-like creature with a huge dark shell which was emitting a type of poisonous gas.

"What the heck is this thing?" Ascal unsheathed his sabre and didn't waste anymore time thinking.

Before the horned turtle could make another move... Mirage, Xeim, and Ascal were already charging towards it ready to take it down with force. However, even after taking many numerous hits... the horned turtle wasn't backing down even a bit.

"You'll never see this one comin'... Aerial Slash!" Ascal leaped up in the air and swung his blade vertically aiming for its head but he hit the hard shell having no effect on it at all.

"Crescent Locus! Hyaa!" yelled Mirage as she tried repeatedly to take down her foe.

The horned turtle began to stomp on the ground making everyone lose their balance and fall on the ground.

"Wait!" Welch yelled as the others kept trying to fight it off. "This creature is very similar to the ones found just outside of Peterny. I'm sure of it! These creatures are susceptible to hot fiery attacks. So you know what to do Misty."

"No, this one looks a lot tougher." Lieber objected.

Misty nodded trusting Welch's advice. The floating orb turned red as she began to enchant a spell. "Firebolt." Balls of fire were released from the orb and slammed onto the turtle's head. The turtle grew angrier and began charging towards Misty with its horns out in front.

However, Ascal didn't let it get past him and to everyone's surprise, the edge of his sword was lit up in flames as he held the sword straight above his head pointing towards the sky. "Try this for a change... Rising Dragon!" He thrust his sword like a spear upwards as the fiery blade struck its horns leaving a fatal mark.

It was working. The horned foe grew weaker and weaker but it was far too big to be taken down so quickly.

Lieber simply shrugged. "Er... nevermind."

Before Ascal could strike it once again with his sabre, Mirage dragged her feet along the rock-like surface of its shell igniting her boots with flames in an instant. "Avenger Charge!" She threw left and right kicks striking its head as it lay weak and helpless on the ground. Each kick ignited with flames burnt its skin and left a scar on its body as she kept landing sweeps and roundhouse kicks. She finished it off by placing one foot on top of its large horned head and unleashed a full flaming somersault taking it down and leading to its demise.

"Hey, not bad. Looks like you've had more battle experience than me." Ascal smirked as he walked towards Mirage.

"Ahem It is I who should be getting the credit once again!" Welch yelled shaking her fists.

Lieber gave her a small pat on the shoulder. "Getting appreciation is a long process, don't worry."

"Hmph." Welch crossed her arms. "It's no surprise you'd know something like that."

"Haha, yeah it's-... Hey! Wait! What's that supposed to mean?"

Mirage didn't seem the least bit tired after unleashing her series of kicks. "That was one of my favorite moves I learned from my father. It is a little different from the generic Klau- uh... anyway, th-that doesn't really matter now. Haha" she laughed nervously.

"Well, let's hope we don't have to deal with another one of those on our way." Xeim said as he clenched his fist in pain.

"Ascal..." Misty said. "How did your sword... can you use symbology?"

"Oh yeah. 'Bout that... You guys don't know about Jindou, right?" asked Ascal looking at all five of them.

Mirage, Misty, Xeim, and Lieber shrugged.

Ascal cleared his throat before he started talking again. "Okay, so I told you about the five yogens already. Jindou is a type of energy that is released by all aspects of the nature. In essence, it's the matter that enhances our world in many ways, but ain't necessarily vital to us in anyway. The people of Gernn consider it to be a curse which holds nothing but tremendous power. This is all according to the five yogens anyway. The Principle of Jindou is the first yogen established by Professor Neel. There was a second type of Jindou discovered recently, we call 'em Fenrir crystals. It lets the wielder control elements of nature in many ways and imbue them onto many things. This thing here... is the one that was passed down to me by my old man."

He unsheathed his sword again detaching a small crystal-like structure shaped like a cylinder. It had a yellowish tint to it and had a glittering exterior. The item looked like a valuable gem, it emitted a strange light. Mirage figured it'd come at handy in night times as well.

"So this is a... Fenrir crystal." Mirage held the small piece in her hand as she rubbed it with her fingers. The surface was a little rocky.

"I guess this Professor Neel guy must have been something, huh?" said Lieber.

"Yup. Although he was kind of a kook in a way."

"I thought you said there were four yogens in total. Why five now?" asked Xeim curiously still laying a suspicious eye on Ascal.

"Oh right. There were supposedly only four yogens. But recently a fifth yogen was found and like I said, they were scattered around the world. So... can't say how many yogens there really are indefinitely. My task was given to fulfill the fourth yogen as the Savior to prevent the Calamity. But the fifth yogen condemned the people of Gernn and said that they would somehow prevent me from fulfilling my task. So, everyone in Rashfall has had a bad vibe with Gernn ever since the fifth yogen was discovered. That continent's already poor as it is, so I wonder what kind of trouble those guys could bring at all. Still... the royal Requiem Code is a strong believer in the yogens, which is why you were sent to prison immediately. Just don't make that mistake again... Gernn can only mean trouble on this continent."

"Well THAT pretty much explains what was happening back there." Mirage said as she cued everyone to keep walking through the vast plains of Rashfall.

"I'm not sure if the power of Jindou is enough to take down the Calamity." Lieber advised Ascal.

Welch shook her head and just ran ahead of everyone else. "Hey, my head's starting to hurt. Let's just hurry while there's still daylight."

As it began to grew dark, a small village came in sight just ahead of them. It was the Village of Qual. Qual was the closest farming village to the royal city of Rashfall. Many Qual residents would take trips to Rashfall to export goods for the market which allowed Qual to achieve a good level of prosperity. The elder chief of the village was rumored to have some relation with the royal Requiem Code in Rashfall and he was also a holder of the rare Fenrir crystals like Ascal.

"Let's pass by the place on our way." Ascal suggested and headed towards Qual without looking back.