Lian's Peculiar Journey: Starlight Paladins
ARC III
DESTINY'S CHILD ARC
Frightening Monsters And Super Weirdos
"Well, this is it." Lian said as they stood at the front of the fortress, "Seris' home."
"There there, Moji." Sarah held the leipori in her arms, "You did well in leading us here. I'm so sorry you had to fight that stand user alone."
"It's ok." Moji responded, "I've been taught by all of you that I have to do things on my own. I have to stand up for myself against meanies."
Lian and Zhin smiled.
"That's what I like to hear, Moji." Zhin gave her a thumbs up and looked at the iron gates, "So… you said that bird was the guardian of this place?" he asked.
"Uh Huh." Moji nodded, "He's gone now-"
"Doesn't mean there's no one here, but to show off." Lian smirked and brought out Power Khan.
"RAH!" the hulking stand roared, "RAH RAH RAH RAH RAH RAH RAH RAH RAH RAH!" it punched the large gates with ferocity.
SCREEEEE! The Iron gates bent and snapped at the sheer force of the stand before finally breaking off in a large crash and rusty screech.
The nearby neighbors and citizens stepped away and into their homes once they saw this event and even closed their windows with blinds.
"Worry not, citizens." Lex turned to those few civilians that were there, "I have been tasked by the Lord of the City to search for suspected treason to the Magistrate in this residence!" he pulled up his badge and showed it to them.
While calmed, those citizens made their way out of the street and back into the city.
"I thought we could be a bit quieter." Sarah grumbled as they stepped into the courtyard.
Though the fortress itself appeared quite lifeless and foreboding, the garden in the courtyard was very lively and even had animals like butterflies, humming birds, and ground squirrels scurrying about it. While some plants were a bit overgrown, trees like Pam-Pam fruit trees and Moonshine Trees were sprouting flowers and buds while dark colored flowers formed in bushes under them.
"I must say, for a psycho she does have a green thumb." Zhin commented as he saw what was a fountain and even a small pond with lily pads to their left.
"Don't let this distract you." Sarah growled, "My sister was always up for show, distracting you with elegance and charm to hide her true intentions. In fact, she could be lurking behind the door!" she pointed at the large oak doors that led into the fortress proper.
"Not a problem!" Lian laughed and stepped up the doors, "This will be easy! Power Khan! Let's make this an Open House!"
Power Khan appeared and cracked its knuckles, but before it could take its first swing something came crashing out of the stained-glass window above.
"LOOK OUT!" Lex yelled and brought out The Law and fired on the figure.
The figure fell to the ground behind Lian, revealing itself to be a zombie.
However, before it could do any damage it succumbed to The Law's bullets and to the sun, soon turning into mere ashes.
"I told you that this will not be easy! Allow me…" Sarah pushed Lian to the side and stood in front of the doors.
"Furious Flame!" she spoke and her stand came out, stretching its wings in the afternoon sun.
"CROSSPYRE HURRICANE SPECIAL!"
Furious Flame joined its hands together in a praying stance and built up fiery energy alongside Sarah before sending out her arms in an explosive motion and launching multiple massive ancient glyphs of fire at the door.
The first glyph filled the oak doors with Pyre Energy, causing them to glow and reverberate with power, while the second flaming glyph overloaded it and caused the doors to erupt into the fortress.
KAPOOOM!
A wave of zombies gathered behind was stuck by the door and all were crushed and scattered.
The last three glyphs flew in and consumed the zombies spared from being struck, causing all of them to turn into ash as they cried out in agony.
After all the commotion died down, there was only silence.
"Holy hell." Lian said as the dust cleared away, revealing mounds of ash were the zombies were, "Sarah… That was pretty great."
Sarah exhaled and turned to her allies.
"Told you." She said and stepped in, but not before covering her body with Pyre energy.
"Why are you doing that?" Moji asked.
"If a zombie tries to attack me, they will only hit my Pyre energy." Sarah turned back and informed them, "But it looks like there are no zombie-"
"RAH!" Power Khan suddenly appeared and punched a zombie that was about to land on Sarah.
"Looks like we are not done." Lex looked up to the roof and saw dozens of zombies clinging to the stone above them.
"RAHHHH!" the zombies gargled in their guttural scream and jumped down with their clawed hands facing towards them.
While some perished in the sunlight streaming through the window, many more passed around it unharmed.
"Not very bright, are they?" Lex asked as he saw the apparent suicide of some of their enemies.
"I wouldn't talk now!" Zhin called out Thousand Hands, "Moji!"
"Got it!" Moji called out Po Li and formed him into sand.
"Cutting Sands!" Zhin directed Thousand Hands to use its sword to funnel sand Po Li into a tornado around its blade, then launched it at some zombies.
The sands tore and cut through the zombies and they tumbled down.
"The Law!" Lex saw that these zombies still were active, "10 Officer Police Shootout!"
The Law made itself into ten copies and fired at the grounded zombies before turning their attention upwards and firing at those still falling.
"Let me handle this." Lian told Sarah, "I'm getting tired of these circus freaks ruining my dress!" she yelled, "Things could get ugly."
Power Khan yelled as he came out of Lian and immediately released a fury of punches.
"RAH RAH RAH RAH RAH RAH RAH RAH RAH!"
All the zombies coming towards Sarah were pulverized and sent crashing into various walls and stone statues.
"And to finish this off!" Sarah saw that all the zombies were downed but still alive, "Furious Flame!" she called out her stand and launched spheres of pyre energy that homed in on the undead.
The zombies screamed as they were consumed by the Pyre and turned to ash.
"This was easier than I thought." Lian chuckled and made her way to the stone stairs that led to the darker parts of the fortress.
"Lian, stop charging into things!" Sarah growled and ran to her side, "You don't know what my sister could be hiding next! We all need to be careful."
"What a pain…" Lian sighed and shifted her tiara side to side, "I just want to beat the ever-loving mercy out of her already." She laughed as they reached the top of the stairs.
"We all do, Lian, but now's not the time to be foolish." Lex crossed his arms and looked the long dark hallway that was in front of them.
"Let me handle this." He called out The Law and made one copy of it, "Let me scout ahead." He said and made the copy walk into the hallway while he focused.
"See anything?" Zhin asked as the moments went by.
"A group of armored zombies." Lex informed, "They aren't moving but they are hiding in some coffins inside adjacent rooms with no doors. Nothing yet, but it looks like there's a spiraling staircase at the end of the hall, nothing in the room containing it."
"Can you go up the staircase?" Sarah asked.
"I'm reaching the limit of my patrol range." Lex grumbled as he started to lose focus, "I'm at the base of the stairway… I can't go any further, but I can see that there is a group of zombies right above the ceiling on the stairs waiting for us."
Lex stepped back as the copy of his stand forcefully returned back into him.
"Good job, bud." Zhin patted the man on the back as he stepped forward, "Well you heard him, we can go now."
"Not you too." Sarah groaned, "You're just like Lian."
"Maybe we're related?" Zhin joked as they stepped into the hallway.
"Not a chance." Lian grunted and crossed her arms, "Moji, can you perhaps smell the zombies?" she asked the Leipori.
"All I smell is zombies…" Moji grumbled as she wiped her nose, "It's all icky."
"I told you where they were, Lian." Lex interjected, "Perhaps you can have more faith in me."
"Isn't it always good to double check?" Lian smiled and then saw doorways to adjacent rooms coming up ahead.
"Looks like we better get loaded for action." Zhin said as he took out Thousand Hands.
"Hmmm…." Moji looked at suits of knight armor on the sides of the hall, "Uh…" she tugged on Lex's pants.
"Hmm?" Lex looked down at Moji, "Yes?"
"I feel something watching me." Moji said and pointed at one of the suits of decorative armor.
"Don't be silly, Moji." Lian scoffed, "These dusty old pieces of armor have been here for ages, no way they were moved without all this dust on them being cleaned off." She said and wiped one of the chestplates, "See-HWAK!"
The armor she wiped moved its arm and strangled Lian.
"RAH!" Power Khan came out and slammed the armor's head into the wall, revealing that there was a zombie inside of it.
"Have they been waiting here for ages?!" Lian groaned as the rest of the suits of armor stepped down from their pedestals and charged at them.
"Run!" Lex yelled and they stared to flee.
When they passed the rooms the zombies inside the coffins sprung to action and joined their comrades in their chase.
"RAHH!" the horde roared violently as it pushed its mass through the narrow hall.
"Enough running!" Zhin growled and stopped in his tracks.
"Zhin!"
"We're running straight into a trap!" Zhin told Lian, "Remember what cop man said, there's some of these freaks waiting for us at the stairs!"
Lex remembered his report and also stopped.
"He's right, THE LAW!" he called out his stand, "5 Officer Police Shoot Out!"
"Glad you can join me!" Zhin said, "Thousand Hands!" he directed his stand to start cutting through the mass of zombies.
"Open fire!" Lex directed his stands to fire at the horde, "Zhin! Watch out!" he saw that a zombie had broken through and lunged at the swordsman.
However, before it could get its claws on him, a large stone pillar appeared from the ground in front of Zhin and crushed the zombie into the roof.
"Po Li!" Moji jumped next to Zhin, "Rock Slide!" she said and caused Po Li to turn into small boulders and roll down the hallway, knocking many zombies down.
"STRIKE!" she cheered.
"We're clearing up over here!" Sarah and Lian called out from behind them as they fought the zombies that jumped down the staircase.
"Almost done here." Lex informed as the mass of zombies was whittled down to two standing individuals, both of which were cut in half by one swipe of Thousand Hand's Sword.
"We are done here. Let's see how the girls are doing." Zhin chuckled as they all retracted their stand and walked towards the staircase.
Lian finished off the last zombie with Power Khan and called it off.
"Ready to move on, boys?" she asked and saw that Sarah was dusting herself off.
"Let us continue on our way." Lex said and led the group of the stairs with two of The Law in front of him, "Looks like there is nothing here." He said when they reached the next floor.
It appeared to be a library dotted with stone columns connected by Arab-esque arches, the floor was made of red sandstone that was cracked at parts seemingly due to the age of the fortress.
"Shh…." Sarah said as she cut off Lex and filled herself up with Pyre Energy.
"It's so dark…" Moji mumbled as only a few faint crystal lights lit up the vast room.
"Better for Seris to attack us-" Sarah stopped when she saw a figure sitting behind a large desk by some bookcases.
A single candlelight was on her, but it was clear who she was.
"Seris!" the Paladins yelled when they saw the braided blonde hair on the person.
"We finally found you!" Lian called out, "Now it's time to pay before being such a pain in the ass for me and my friends!"
"Lian! Wait!" Sarah tried to stop her.
Power Khan yelled as he came out of Lian.
"RAH!" he punched the person on the head.
"GRAHHH!" the person crashed into the bookshelf behind her, revealing it was the zombie of a woman who had blonde hair just like Seris.
"What the…" the Paladins stepped back.
"It wasn't Seris." Sarah walked up to where the downed zombie was, "Rest now, woman." She said and struck her with the Pyre, turning her to ash.
"How did you know?" Lex asked with curiosity.
"Zombies do not have souls, as they are merely reanimated undead." Seris informed them, "Though they are creatures of the Abyss just like my sister, Seris is a living conduit of the darkness. I saw that this person had no soul and thus could not be her."
"So what you're telling us is that this was just a sick joke from Seris?" Zhin asked.
"Are you expecting better from my sister?" Sarah scoffed and saw a glowing crystal ball on the desk, "Hmmmm…" she inspected it with a touch from her hand.
"Hello, sister." A voice familiar to Sarah spoke from the crystal interior, and then an all too familiar person appeared from the purple smoke within.
"Seris…" Sarah snarled, but noticed it was just some pre-spoken vision.
"I see you have found where I reside, though I doubted I could nevertheless take action to remove myself from confrontation with you and your filth." Seris continued, "If you are watching this projection that means you have defeated my little pets, which I know they were more of an annoyance than a threat."
"Tell me about it." Lian crossed her arms.
"As you view this, I am already leaving this fortress to greener pastures, but don't worry… I always leaving my guests in good hands." Seris finished and her hidden appearance disappeared.
A sudden horse scream and whip crack sounded from an open window near them, causing Lex to run to it.
He looked out and saw a pitch-black carriage with no windows drawn by four dark horses come out of a portico and rode to an open gate in the wall.
"She's getting away!" Zhin, who had reached the window along with everyone else, pointed at the carriage.
"Let's see if I can get her! No one escapes The Law!" Lex called out his stand and aimed its arm magnum.
But at the moment he was about to fire, the carriage suddenly vanished, only leaving behind a dust cloud and trail that went out of the gate.
"What the…" Lex stepped back and retracted his stand, "Where did she go?"
"I don't know!" Lian looked at him.
"She just vanished." Sarah muttered, "Is this the secret to her stand?" she asked herself, "I don't understand it."
"We need to get out of here and see if we can catch up!" Zhin told them as he fixed himself to spring back down, only to stop in his tracks.
"We need to get to our wagon, it's almost sundown-" Lian also stopped.
One by one the Paladins stopped in their tracks as they turned away from the window.
"What the hell…" Lian saw that the library room was now empty, no bookshelves, no desks, no chairs, nothing.
Just the door and the columns in a now vast and vacant room.
"What's… going on…" Sarah looked back at the window and saw that it was now night, "Lian… didn't you just say it was sundown?"
"Yes! That's what happened when we looked out the window." Lian grumbled, but then felt something dry by her lip.
"Hold on." Lex grabbed her face and looked at it, "Is this? Saliva?" he asked as he rubbed the dry flakes from her skin.
"Sarah, now that I notice." Zhin looked at the woman, "Your hair is all over the place…" he squinted.
"Huh?" Sarah said and felt her hair, "I thought I combed it. It was probably from fighting those zombies."
"No, your hair was alright." Lian commented, "Moji, however."
"Oh…" Moji groaned as her fur was all over the place.
"Whatever happened, it is not right." Lex looked around, "We need to… To… HUAH…" he yawned and turned back to Lian, "Lian…"
"Are you alright, Lex- Lex!" Lian grabbed Lex when his body slipped, "Lex!"
"Something's…" Lex mumbled as his eyes started to close, "Not… right…."
"Sarah, what-" Lian stopped when she saw Sarah was sitting down on the ground and bobbing her body back and forth, "Sarah?"
"I'm just so…" Moji fell on her back.
"Lian… What's-" Zhin saw that Lian's eyelids started to flutter, "What's… ahhh…" he exhaled and fell to his knees, "So…. Sleepy…."
The two fell to the ground.
Audible breathing and snoring started to resonate through the room.
But it was only for a few minutes as Lex woke up at the sound of footsteps and moving objects.
"Is there anyone ther- Lian!" he shoved Lian.
"I'm awake…" Lian groaned as Lex picked her up.
One by one the Paladins woke up from their nap.
"What happened?" Moji asked, "I d-" she saw a most peculiar sight.
"Who's there!" Sarah yelled at a figure underneath a crystal light.
This figure was sitting on a red recliner and reading a book.
From the lighting they could tell it was a woman, but not blonde haired like Seris. She had short brown hair that reached her shoulders and was wavy at the end.
"I'm glad you have come… My mother was expecting you." She spoke.