The sea was sparkling blue on this cloudless day over the South Seas, the suns rays shimmering over the surface. Land was no where in sight, small schools of Sky Fish leaped through the small waves, flitting their bodies in the mid day air. Sea birds glided without effort, snipping at the small prey the Sky Fish were hunting. Also flying among these white feathered animals was a bird of steel, a gray and blue helicopter with the word "Brionac" lettered across it.
Seated in this luxurious private helicopter on one side was Hauser, in his most cheerful mood, Arnaud, not paying attention to anything whatsoever, and Raquel, who gleefully chatted away to the other side facing them, which consisted of the lawyer Scythe, who looked bored out of his white head, and a tall, built man dressed in a green leather jacket, a white under shirt, and khakis. His hair was neat and trim, brown with a white stripe running through it, and a frozen noodle on his lip. This man grinned and gave an odd laugh every so often.
"Isn't this park a little far away for a zoo?" Arnaud asked as he toyed with a fossilized Lucied claw. "Who's going to fly a chopper half way across the world to see a few wild animals?"
"Maybe, maybe they have, uh, Grow-Grow Apples, and, if we're lucky, Super Grow Apples on this island." The green jacketed man gave a laugh. "Har har."
"Even Grow Apples pale in comparison to my attractions." Hauser replied.
"Oh what could be better than Grow Apples, Hauser?" Gawn chewed his gum rather loudly. He then turned to face Arnaud and Raquel, "So you two dig up Guardians?"
Arnaud rolled his eyes as Raquel smiled. "Well, he does. I help, I'm a pale botanist, and I study ancient plants and ecosystems."
"Ancient, ancient plants, you say?" Gawn raised his eyebrows. "As far as I understood it, Filgaia was a desert for most of its life, if I'm not mistaken."
"Well," Arnaud interrupted Raquel before she could correct him, "Filgaia has been a desert for most of its time, yes. We've divided Filgaian history into five zones, in which the first zone, the planet was formed from dust and planetoids fusing together, the second zone life began and plants colonized the land and seas formed-"
"The Adelhyde stage" Raquel interrupted.
Arnaud looked to Raquel, "Yes, the third zone plants grow even more as jungles appeared for the first time, though much of the world was still dry and baron, the Maria Boule zone, the third stage, the Advanced stage, is which a climate shift dried out 99 of the bodies of water and dried up the whole planet. Several millions of years later, the climate began to return to a normal balance and we entered our current zone."
Hauser looked to Scythe. "You see, I bring the scientists, you bring the rock star!"
"Oh trust me, he's no rock star, can't sing a note." Scythe retorted.
"Ah, very interesting. Interesting indeed." Gawn mused. "And Guardians inhabited the planet for all those stages, except for the current one, where they went extinct at the end of the last zone. But this is where it gets me, why would Hauser, you, bring Paleontologists to your park." Gawn leaned back and grinned.
"Ah you have to excuse Dr. Gawn here, our mathematician; he suffers from the most retarded of personalities." Hauser crossed his arms.
"Chaotitian, Chaotitian, Hauser, not mathematician." Gawn leaned forward, protesting with his fingers. Hauser replied with a whatever as Gawn looked to the two young Guardian diggers. "You-you two know what a chaotitian is, don't you?" Arnaud shrugged as Raquel shook her head.
"Gawn, nobody knows what the hell a chaotitian is." Scythe replied.
"Chaos theory, you know what chaos theory is, right?" Gawn made another attempt.
"Not a clue." Raquel smiled.
"Does it have anything to do with Arcana?" Arnaud shrugged again.
"Chaos theory, you know the butterfly effect? If a butterfly flaps its wings in Buck Eye, a hurricane hits Illsviel?" Gawn made more attempts to jog someone's memory.
Look!" Hauser leaned foreword and pointed out the side window. "There it is." Just outside the chopper, a series of forest covered cliffs were coming into view. The chopper soon flew into the island, over its steep sloped exterior covered in green foliage and through a jungle coated gorge. The sight was astonishing as tropical forest stretched as far as anyone could see, right up the cliff faces and over the jagged cliff tops, adorning the island face in bright tropical flowers and bright feathered birds. The chopper was approaching a waterfall. Hauser made this point to announce a safety measure. "It's going to get a bit bumpy, so seat belts everyone."
"Only kids wear seatbelts." Arnaud grinned as everyone else buckled up. The decent down the waterfall was turbulent to say the least, knocking Arnaud all across the cabin. Now he wished he had buckled up for sure. After a few "fun" moments, the chopper touched down on a cement helipad, nestled in near pond at the base of the falls. Several soldiers rushed to the chopper door and opened the latch, allowing Arnaud to collapse onto the cement. The soldiers, ignoring Vasquez, aided the rest out and onto the ground. Two open top jeeps were sitting on a dirt road near by, awaiting its passengers. Arnaud helped himself up as the rest of the tourists gazed about at the tropical beauty. Hauser stepped forward and smiled. "We're here." And then the group stepped into the jeeps, splitting up when needed, and finally closing the doors, on which a logo was placed, reading "Filgaia Park".
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The two jeeps rolled through some heavy electrified fencing that stretched at least twenty feet high, an odd measure Arnaud thought before driving off road across some grassy terrain. The sun shone over the field as the cars drove up a series of hills.
"I just want you to know, Hauser, that this isn't some sort of vacation, but an inspection to the highest degree, so help me God I'll shut you down if I see anything out of place!" Scythe leaned over the back of his chair to announce to Hauser and Gawn, sitting in the back.
"Relax Scythe, all that anger isn't good for your blood pressure." Hauser replied.
"I'm a Crimson Noble, Hauser, I know everything there is to know about blood, thank you very much. Your investors are anxious, Hauser, they want to know about every screw and nail placed in this park. If I'm not happy in 48 hours, they're not happy."
"In 48 hours, you'll owe me an apology." Hauser grinned.
"And-and in another 48 hours, uh, Eddie Murphy switches places yet again! Mind you." Gawn interrupted.
Another car in front of them, Raquel was inspecting a piece of green foliage she had plucked from a shrub near by on the way. "I don't get it Arnaud, this species of Dryad shouldn't be here, this plant's been extinct since the end of the Advanced era."
"I dunno, maybe we're on the island of the undead." Arnaud shrugged.
Back in the car behind them, Hauser, noticing something nobody else caught, tapped the driver's shoulders telling him to stop. Wordlessly, the driver sis just that, stopping the caravan on the grassy knoll. "Everyone, look." Hauser whispered.
Arnaud casually glanced in the direction Hauser pointed, thinking some Balberith was trotting by, but he soon made a double take. He was soon in shock, struck speechless. He blinked, rubbed his eyes, and stood up, gazing in that direction.
"Maybe they used time arcane to bring this plant back, or, -what?" Raquel stopped her blabbing as Arnaud prodded her shoulder. However, the moment she looked up, her eyes locked on to a target, and as much dumb founded as Arnaud, she stood up silent. The two then staggered out of the jeep as Hauser came to meet them, the trio then walking up the knoll along a few impact tremors rocking the earth and a giant shadow enveloping the hill. Scythe sat in awe as Gawn meddled with a ROM.
"Damn ROM! Why is it so damn hard to hit those crates! Hey, hey is everyone so silent? What are we looking at!" Gawn looked up but failed to see the impressive sight before them.
Arnaud walked ahead, his steps shaky, as he walked in the shadow of a massive green scaled creature chomping away at the top of an enormous hundred foot tree. The creature stood upon its back legs and switched its tail back and forth in a lazy manner as the wind blew along its plated back. The giant green reptile took another step towards a different tree, its foot shaking the earth under its weight. "Its, it's a Guardian!" Arnaud happily announced.
"A live guardian!" Raquel laughed.
"Yes, indeed." Hauser chirped.
"It's, uh, it's Grudiev, if I'm not mistaken, oh Wow!" Arnaud continued to studder.
"Correct again, Dr. Vasquez. I told you this would be right up your alley." Hauser patted Arnaud's back.
Gawn finally looked up, a smile coming across his face. "Oh, it's a guardian. Hauser, you crazy son of a bitch, you did it."
"We're going to be rich…" Scythe whispered.
The Guardian slowly walked to the next tree and chomped off the top, munching on the branches without a care. Arnaud turned to Raquel and Hauser and then back to the Grudiev, the biggest smile ever on his face. "It's a god damn Grudiev!" He began to laugh. "And it's eating leaves?"
"What's its diet? How much do they eat?" Raquel began firing questions at the purple haired man.
"Well, we guess the Equitess eats at least a ton of meat a day." Hauser grinned.
Arnaud stopped in his tracks and grabbed the older man by the shoulders. "You have an Equitess?"
Hauser tilted his head and smiled. "Yes, we have an Equitess!"
"Oh God, I haven't been this dizzy since they announced Advent Children." Arnaud slumped to the grass. He then looked over the hill at the lake before him where several more Grudievs were dining on the forest in front of them.
"Look Arnaud, they move in herds." Raquel leaned over Arnauds shoulder.
"Which makes us completely wrong about them…" Arnaud raised an eyebrow. He turned to Hauser who stepped near by. "How did you do this?"
Hauser smiled. "I'll show you." He then took a few steps away. "Welcome, to Filgaia Park!"
Just then the Grudiev, not satisfied with its food, leaped up, grabbing the very top of the tree in its jaws, and came crashing down to earth, sending tremors in all directions.
"We're going to be filthy rich…" Scythe smiled. "But I'll still take a bath…"
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The two jeeps pulled up in front of a large complex, about as large as, say, Dievas Airport, except not crawling with undead monsters. Tropical plants and beautiful fountains sat in front of the main entrance, which was decorated like a giant tropical hut, made of stone and decorated with dragon fossils. Parts of it were still under construction as soldiers of all kinds were painting, using Gears to plaster the walls, things like that. Hauser led the group into the building, through the double doors, and into the impressive lobby. The floors were a shiny dark tile and the room itself was a two story dome with a second floor ring going around the sides. The stairway spiraled around a colossal skeleton of a Fengalon being attacked by a skeleton Equitess, above them a banner stretched the room, proudly proclaiming "When Guardians Ruled the World". Hauser marched up the stairs, pass the Soldiers cleaning up, leading the team. "Welcome to the Visitor Center, a state-of-the-art facility meant to handle the toughest of crowds with five star dining and accommodations as well as educational programs spared no expense!"
"Well, what do you two think so far?" Scythe asked the youngest pair as they went up.
"I think we're out of a job." Arnaud sarcastically replied.
"Don't you mean "extinct"? Oh, yes, I'm a Jack Ass." Gawn added.
The group emerged into a dark room, resembling a small movie theater, where a few rows of seats sat opposite of a large screen and stage. Hauser walked up stage, explaining the financing of the place and what not as the rest were urged to take their seats. Another Hauser, on screen, approached the living Hauser. "Well hello Hauser." The fake Hauser said.
"Oh, wait, what?" Hauser was confused. "Oh wait! I'm supposed to be reciting something here." Hauser cleared his throat. "Too be, or not to be? Wait, that's not it."
"Well that's fine and dandy, but how did I get here?" The fake Hauser asked.
"Oh yea!" A light bulb appeared over Hauser's head. "I'll show you, but first, I'll need a sample of your blood."
"Oh I like where this is going." Scythe grinned.
The real Hauser pricked the fake Hausers' finder with a needle, and suddenly an army of Hausers appeared on screen. "Ha! And now with this army, I shall take my revenge for kicking my dog!" Hauser laughed. "Erm, I mean, uh…"
"I say, what's going on!" The fake Hauser asked.
"It's the miracle of cloning, my dear Hauser." Hauser explained. Appearing out of the fake Hauser's finger appeared a small Grow Apple.
"Hello, I'm Mr. Grow Apple, and though I have absolutely nothing to do with how your body works or cloning, allow me to explain anyway chu!" The Grow Apple then pulled down a curtain with several diagrams on it.
"Your body is composed of cells, they're in your eyes, your hair, your nose, and your blood, chu! Inside your cells is something that's called DNA, or deoxyribonucleic Acid! DNA is like a blueprint for a living thing, you, a palm tree, a Gob, or even a Nybbas, chu. Your cells follow your DNA's instructions to build you, chu!" Mr. Grow Apple began.
"Yea, but where do you get 40 million year old Guardian DNA?" Arnaud leaned over to Raquel.
"Hey you two! Quit making out in the dark!" Gawn shouted.
"To get Guardian DNA, our scientists at Filgaia Park had to work real hard chu! Basicly, the existence of a Guardian is imprinted on the basic, primordial memories of every creature alive. Though we may not be aware of it, every memory of every creature and event is imprinted inside our own memories, chu. Scientists at Filgaia Park figured out how to harness and extract these memories into information we call "Runes", chu."
"What! Is this true? My head!" Gawn grabbed at his skull.
"The problem is, for every creature, there's billions and billions of strands of memory. If we were to look at one strand a second, it would take two years to figure out one creature. It's that long, chu! But it's full of holes! That's because our memories aren't perfect and some bits are hard to reach. To find these holes, chu, we use thinking machines and super computers to find them. Once extracted, we fill the holes on the DNA with the DNA of toads for no reason at all, and CHU! We can make a baby Guardian!" The cinema continues with a giant Grudiev walking the earth and shaking everything around it.
"I didn't get that at all." Gawn scratched his head.
"Me neither." Raquel shrugged.
"Does this have to do with that Yggdrassil thing?" Arnaud was confused.
"And now we continue!" Hauser took a seat. Then brace bars clamped down from the back of the seats in front of them, imprisoning all within.
"The hell is this?" Scythe asked.
"I knew it! We're going to be fed to the Guardians!" Gawn shouted.
"It's sort of a ride." Hauser replied as the entire room began to move down a track. The screen gave way to a glass wall, beyond which many scientists worked about their daily work, reading papers, pressing buttons, and talking at the cooler.
"Well looky here chu! It's those Filgaia Park scientists hard at work…" The grow Apple voice came through a P.A system.
"Wait! How do you interrupt the geobot chromosphere (please make me sound smart)?" Arnaud asked.
"Oh My Gawd! Are those eggs back there!" Raquel pointed through the glass.
"Alright everyone! Let's throw off the oppressive chains of misery! On three!" Gawn announced. The three of them pushed up the bar and stepped off the rise, followed by a worried Hauser.
"They can't do that, can they?" Scythe protested.