The Behemoth raised its arm, cranking it with so much weight. Already, Craig and Cana could feel the gravity around them lighten as it was drawn up along with the arm. If it wasn't bad enough, the red cracks beneath were brightening, almost as though they were spilling forth heat. The arm came down, hitting the earth with a thunderous roar that bellowed like that of a tyrannical magnitude. The ground split apart as a red linear shockwave went at the pair.
Both moved out of the wave as the shockwave continued onwards pass them. Its radius could perhaps equal that of a dragon's own roar. From outside, the red shockwave traveled through the sky in a red beam, battering through the cavernous domain and off towards the nearest mountain in the distance. There was a brief silence, and then a small red down was seen in the far reaches.
Craig looked back towards the open hole, his eyes wide. "Whoa. This bastard's packing some power." Of course he didn't digress and adverted his attention towards the menace, being sure to stay with the program as the Behemoth growled at them. The monster raised another arm at them, prompting another familiar assault.
"Not again!" Cana screamed.
Craig reached back, and in what was a brief flash, unsheathed all his blades in one go. He crossed his blood red and dark red swords, poised to strike.
The large beast brought his other arm down, making the entire structure from top to bottom shudder as another red linear shockwave went across the ground. The humungous attack went ahead as Craig took a big leap ahead towards the red shockwave ahead. With full force, he slashed right into the shockwave with all his might. He remained still as separated red waves of hot energy went pass him and Cana, the latter covering up as the heat brushed pass her arms and skin, giving a burning sensation. The beams of red dissipated outwards, but they failed to do damage.
Craig continued, taking another lunge forward towards the beast. "Come on! We're just getting started!"
The Behemoth roared at the incoming Craig, swinging his mighty tail at the much smaller monster. As the tail headed his way, Craig jumped, and he flipped overhead and evaded the shark-like tailfin. He landed on the ground and instantly turned towards the tail. He went on ahead, running towards the black underside that was exposed. He let out a primal roar and thrust his mouth blade's left end into the skin.
The monster roared up high, his bellowing rattling the earth. With this chance, Cana took out a card and had it ready to attack. "Now! Icicle!" She swiped her card, unleashed a barrage of large icicles that went at the hulking monster.
As the icicles traveled, however, steam was coming from them, in which they were starting to shrink, and eventually turned into favor.
Cana was again dumbfounded. "It…evaporated?"
Craig's eyes narrowed. 'Looks like water and ice attacks are only gonna be turned against us. What dumb luck.'
The Behemoth swung his mighty tail again, this time in the opposite direction. Craig's mouth blade was unstuck, and the male went flying off towards one of the rocky walls. Without much of a sound or grunt, his feet met the wall first, and he flipped of and landed back on the ground, glaring at the large monster opposing them.
"Well you're no pushover, but your roaring's grating my ears." He growled. He readjusted his mouth blade once more. "So shut up!"
The Behemoth's only response was raising a claw and bringing it back towards him. He thrust forward, attacking Craig. Craig jumped yet again, dodging the colossal grip and even evaded the embedding marks the claws left in the walls. He landed on the hand and ran onwards, up the arm towards the monster.
As the beast looked at him, Cana used this time to get an advantage. "Hey! Over here ya overgrown scaly face!" She flipped another card, coating it in light green energy. "Summoned Lightning!" She fired the several cards in hand towards the Behemoth, closing in and converging onto its cheek. Lightning crackled on the side of its face, otherwise as the sparks went on it shot a sharp glance towards Cana.
"No effect?!"
"It's hard body and armor scales must have some kind of magic-resistance to it." Craig said. He continued running up and jumped off the arm, meeting the Behemoth's face. "Just go for the underbelly if you can! Spiral Dragon Slice!" Craig spiraled in and slashed at its face, making the large beast growl and narrow its gaze as Craig passed it.
'This is gonna be a lot trickier than what I thought.' He landed on the ground on a knee, staring coldly back up as the massive behemoth looked back over its shoulder towards Craig. It again swung its massive tail from behind Craig, catching the beast himself in slight surprise. Craig hurriedly turned around and attacked. He again used his swords and blades, all of which he skillfully used as a means of blocking the large tail from the side. The huge body part met with Craig's small form, but it was shown that despite the monstrous size, Craig had a lot more strength than what one could give him credit for.
Struggling, Craig was maintaining his position, his arms and neck out as his swords and pure muscle was holding off the beast's mighty tail. Still, upon contact, Craig was fending not just this raw power, but also this extraordinary heat resonating from the outline of the beast.
"This guy…he's got so much weight and heat behind him…" He cursed.
A giant claw came swinging from the side, and Craig suddenly found himself struck by the side, a hefty weight of what felt like a hundred wrecking balls struck his side, making him go wide-eyed as his entire world blurred out briefly as all he saw was darkness that was the terrain and the glowing red cracks from the ground. The Behemoth swung its arm, swatting Craig back towards Cana, making him fly overhead and crash into the rocky walls.
"Cranky!" Cana yelled. The brunette turned back towards the Behemoth and flashed more of her cards. "Hey, you can't do that…only I can do that!"
As the dust cleared, it revealed Craig embedded into the rock in the wall. He grunted, his sharp teeth gritting. His eyes opened up a little, showing some hostility in them. "Oh, screw you!" He barked back.
Cana flashed more cards, her focus on the monster instead of Craig. The Behemoth raised a giant foot and pressed down, not only having itself roar, but the land beneath rattled. The entire pillar and the surrounding forest itself rumbled. The vibrations make the leaves and trees rustle with worry and confusion from miles away. Back at the scene at hand, the ground cracked further, and a shockwave traveled across the ground all around, picking up the heated rick beneath. Beams of red light from the cracks arose as well, making a wave of red, heat, and rock head for Cana.
The brunette crouched and jumped at the last second, evading the ripple of flying earth beneath. Although the red beams and lights shooting up from the ground was another story. She covered up as the red beams flared everywhere, but fortunately for her she got a clear shot in among the carnage. "Sun's Strength!" She fired her cards at the behemoth, attacking with flaming streams of fire, of which soared at the beast vigorously. The monster made no attempt to even dodge. It stood in place as its face was consumed in an erupting blast of fire, much to Cana's joy.
"Alright!" She landed safely on the leveled earth, looking ahead and disregarding the red beams dissipating back into red glowing cracks beneath the unkempt rock layers. The smoke settled and she seemed shocked as the eyes of the monster showed nothing. The attack only made its lava-like outline glow brighter. It looked down at Cana, unamused as it seemed.
"You're kidding! Not even a single scratch!" She exclaimed. Her fists clutched, but her spine shivered as the beast ahead gave a menacing growl, which contradicted the burning sensation on her skin. "First water and ice evaporated on the spot, my own sweat evaporating, and now fire only adds fuel? This is looking bad."
The beast opened its mouth, showing the lava-like gums. As he roared, the earth shook and red began to glow inside of the mouth. Cana was flabbergasted and caught off guard as the monster lowered his head, firing a red beam to the earth and tilted its head towards her, dragging the red blast wave towards her. A huge red light of searing energy enveloped everything in front, and Cana was carried off the ground as rock went flying. She screamed as the shockwave was again burning her skin. She sailed off, tumbling along the flying rock with harsh sliding on her back.
The rumbling and violent red winds was what helped Craig, however. He was dislodged successfully, and he gripped the rocky wall behind him, keeping himself from falling or perhaps sliding towards the heated bottom. He craned his head towards the Behemoth, who turned his head up and let out another insidious bellow, of which began to grate against all ears within the vicinity.
Not bothering to speak, he let actions speak his annoyance. He pulled out his blood and dark red swords, and he drove them into the rock behind him, using them as means of maintaining himself on the wall. He brought one sword in a spin in front of the other, spinning sideways across the wall towards the monster.
The Behemoth turned to see Craig spinning alongside the wall, boring prodded incisions that glowed red. Craig gave the last pivot a very harsh turn, propelling him in a spin towards the face. He was coming around with his two swords and attacked, slashing yet again into the face. In midair, winds went wild, the sheer force blowing away the heat but for a brief few seconds. The Behemoth's nose was struck by the attack, but the swords were still, unable to be moved so easily. Craig pushed with all his might, but only managed to keep the beast's face from moving ahead. Finally, Craig followed through, slashing across the face with great might, finally overpowering the facial defense, leaving a bleeding mark across the beast's front as it roared in agonizing pain.
Cana moved the rocks that fell atop of her over. She grunted at the weight of them, but did push them over. She looked up as she finished, seeing Craig's swordsmanship following through. "…whoa. Nice."
As Craig was in midair, his eyes narrowed. The Behemoth turned its head back towards him, angrily staring at his form. With a lash of its own head, head attacked Craig with an upward swing. Craig crossed both swords in front, making an X to block. The head and harsh body armor struck him, sending him skywards towards the ceiling on the cavern.
His whole world was spinning, and he straightened out as he finally reached a pinnacle. He looked down, seeing the Behemoth's head craned up and mouth wide open. Craig eyes narrowed, angrily looking down at the open mouth. He crouched as he sheathed his two swords.
"Say 'ah'!" Craig tucked in his legs and began to use the downward momentum to spin. He spun like a wheel, gradually gaining speed until he was close at hand. He brought an axe kick down with all that harsh momentum behind him.
"Sky Sunder!"
He brought his foot down on the teeth, making a harsh boom sound reverberate through the atmosphere. Cana winced as she knew that had to hurt. "Talk about kicking someone in their own teeth…"
The Behemoth fought back, but Craig's momentum was too much and the giant beast started to fall backwards. As Craig back flipped, the monster howled out as it fell onto its back, thudding against the ground. Both hit the ground at the same time, in which the ground shuddered. The red cracks flared briefly, and Craig and Cana both had a knee to the ground as the earth shuddered from that roaring fall.
Yet again the villagers who were behind could feel that earthquake. It was of a weak magnitude, extremely weak, but they felt it. What staggered them was not just that there were these earth-shaking occurrences, but also the occasional roaring that was heard far away. After the fog had cleared up, many of hope began to flourish once again, with the bright sunlight from before having just lift their spirits. It's been a very long time since sun was sought, and at last they also are having their first actual sunset, being able to tell clear skies from hazy orange. Many were already in shock of the scouting teams actually coming back earlier to investigate; and while they found nothing, they also found no white monsters either. Many were already speaking of the predicament like it was a miracle, some believing it was an act of an actual god. But what mattered at the moment was all of the constant roaring.
"Hm?"
"What's the matter?"
"Did you feel that?" There was a long pause, with the small group of villagers in the center of the village conversing. They could feel every tremor and roar which shook the land with violent ecstasy
"…yeah, there it is again."
"What do you think it is?"
"A dragon?"
"That's crazy! They've gone extinct! I think it's a giant wyvern."
"Wyvern don't live around here. They're more or less in deep mountains or Mt. Hokabe, remember?"
"T-then what's with all of this shaking and roaring?"
As of now through their talk, the self-esteem of the group was lowering. Not a dragon? Not a wyvern? What could it be? It was menacing and violent for sure, and it seemed to be the case in which this could very well spell disaster if something wasn't done. After all of the violent shaking, nobody was brave nor bold to head in that direction in particular.
"Let's just hope that guy from before and that girl have the answers to this problem."
In a tent, Erza was sleeping still, bandages all around her body; many of which were replaced not too long ago. She was damaged and battered, but the rumbling of the earth and the blood-curdling roars have been arousing the villagers, and in turn she began to wince, her eyes slowly opening to reveal hazy brown eyes. "What's…going on…?" But before she could act accordingly, she fell back unconscious.
Craig and Cana regrouped, overlooking the fallen figure not too far away from them. The ground was still shaken up pretty back, the plates having been changed considerably, but otherwise the earth remained stable, and the structure didn't seem like it was gonna fall anytime soon.
"So you think we got the sucker?" Cana asked.
The monster groaned, getting back up to its own front. It got a foot beneath and it hunched over, supporting itself with its claws.
"Does that answer your question?" Craig sarcastically implied. "It's gonna take more than a simple fall to break something like that."
"Well then how the heck are we going to beat this guy? It's already hot enough as it is. He's like solid fire or lava incarnated. If we touch him too long or stay in one place, either the hot ground or it will incinerate us."
"Well complaining isn't gonna get us anywhere." He looked back towards the monster, seeing it turn towards them with an insidious growl. "You try aiming for the mouth and any other soft parts as before, I'll keep him busy." Craig ran ahead, his pacing quite fast as he charged on towards the Behemoth.
The monster roared down towards him, bellowing with hot waves making Craig's face sting. Still, he persevered and pressed onwards. He picked up more speed and clutched a fist, bringing it around and back. Closing in on to the knee of the beast, he punched with great might.
"Smash!"
He punched into the red armor, of which was still outlined in lava-like colors. He met the spike on the knee cap, giving so much force that it was actually enough to crack it. However, the monster raised its head, roaring in what one could say annoyance and pain. The Behemoth nudged its leg forward, making Craig fly backwards, landing on the ground on a knee.
Craig looked back up, his eyes widening. He was the shark-like tail come crashing down, and the Behemoth slammed him with heavy pressure. The ground all around jumped, making rock fly once more.
"Cranky! Craig!" Cana screamed out.
The Behemoth both a smirk, thinking it smooshed Craig. As the dust settled, cracks and red earth was beneath the tail. Much to the Behemoth and Cana's surprise, the tail was nudged from below. Cana was left confused, but her confusion swelled into shock as she could see the tail being lifted from beneath. It was a gawking sight, but Craig was using both arms and lifted the tail with great power. He had knees bent, and grunted in annoyance as he was trying to keep the tail from crushing him.
With a final scream, Craig shoved the tail off of himself, causing it to go slightly airborne. The beast whipped its tail back, having seen that Craig was unmoved and fended against that crushing blow.
Craig was panting, his breathing labored from all the energy he exerted, fending against the heated assault. His skin and hands were already tender or perhaps red, early signs of blistering to dead skin. "You're a real handful, I'll give you that much." Craig admitted. He repositioned himself into an offensive manner. Without much of anymore words, he lunged ahead towards the roaring monster.
Cana swiped her card. "Cranky! Heads up!" She flashed her Prayer's Fountain card, of which was what she intended to use. 'I gotta make this work for just this brief moment.' She swiped her card, slamming it onto the near-sizzling rock. "Prayer's Fountain!"
Slamming the card against the ground, out exerted torrents upon torrents of water. Geysers spouted in a lot of places all across the ground and air. It was random, and as the geysers raged, the temperature of the water itself began to escalate swiftly in that instant, until it too was starting to evaporate.
Cana's eyes narrowed. "Come on…come on…"
As Craig was jumping, a geyser was heading his way. He looked back, seeing it go skywards. As it headed towards his particular direction, his eyes widened, flashing what may be a very important idea. He turned back as he was suspended in the air briefly and then the hot geyser and the rising hot air reached him, shooting him into the air towards the Behemoth with a heightened velocity.
Cana pumped a fist. "Score!"
Craig went beaming upwards, reeling a fist back as the geyser water stopped pushing and evaporated into thin air. He went onwards, his body directly in front of the large monster's face. "Smash!" He shot his fist forward, scoring a direct punch to the beast's face. Again there was a loud boom sound, but the beast sure felt that one as it looked to be cringing. It reeled its head back, roaring up in pain.
Craig kept a narrowed gaze, focused on his adversary at hand. A lava-like outline was seen over his head. Upon looking up, he saw the Behemoth raising its massive hand, bringing it down in a vivid swipe. Craig was struck head on, the impact driving him into the ground. The red earth rumbled from that harsh blow, and Craig was heard grunting out in agony.
The dust settled, and Craig grunted as his back as to the ground. Already it felt like he was touching fire, but he wasn't able to move at the moment with the humungous beast's giant claw to his abdomen. It had a very crushing weight to it, and it was getting hotter to the touch. Craig could not just feel perhaps a half-ton on him, but the scorching touch of his prowess and hands alike were starting to burn.
Grunting out harshly, Craig could feel his pain being overcome by incineration. He couldn't feel his stomach; perhaps the heat was cooking the rabbit he had in the boiling gastric acid. He opened his eyes, his sharp teeth bared.
"You…!"
And then came the one thing he was good at – biting stuff. He snapped his sharp teeth down on the bare charred black skin. The monster let out a harsh groan, reeling itself back up as Craig kept his jaws snapped down, continuously ripping into the hot skin. The beast raised its hand, moving it around to shake Craig off, but to no avail as the little monster's jaws had him maintained.
In anger, the red cracks beneath the earth were glowing brighter. Cana could feel a very hot feeling through her sandals. She couldn't stay in a single place for even a second. She moved out of the way of the cracks as red beams and lights flashed from the ground up. She moved off to the side as one beam opened up in a slant, missing Cana and heading for a wall. The blast bored through the wall, just like in the beginning with the shockwave. The red beam traveled out of the cavern and raced through the sky, and it again went into the mountains, erupting in a small red light in the far distance.
Cana looked back, her eyes again showing shock as she was jumping left and right. "Crap!" She got into a skid and managed to get to a cooler surface. Her eyes narrowed, her own anger spiking. "Come on, this is getting us nowhere." She watched as Craig held onto dear life, being swayed left and right by the hulking monster. "Gotta stop that swinging if I'm gonna get a clear shot, but how…" And once again, she was caught in her own shock. "Oh yeah! A heated updraft!"
Flashing yet another card, she swiped it. "Alright beast, let's see how you like a little wind to the face! Wind Edge!"
A blast of air traveled from the heated ground, traveling surprisingly faster with the high to low pressure variation. The extra speed and heat was just the ticket needed, for it was just what kept the giant monster's hand in place and from swinging it around crazily. Craig was still hanging on, but he could feel a harsh wind pushing him up. He looked down, seeing the red wind making an updraft.
"Well whaddya know?" Craig muffled. He flashed a smirk, and he stopped snapping down onto the foe. Letting go, he was whisked upwards by Cana's assist. He tumbled a little, but he straightened out near the top. He looked down at the Behemoth, seeing how it was looking up at him with hollow lava-like eyes.
Craig went crashing down as the winds ceased. "Let's go!"
"GGRRROOOOOOOHH!"
The Behemoth let out another heated and blood-curdling bellow. The temperature again spiked, but only briefly. Craig and Cana found themselves sailing backwards, with Craig flying off in the air. The latter tumbled uncontrollably, and misfortune fell when he slammed into the nearest wall, again embedded from the brutal force of the shockwaves that pushed with so much might. Craig could feel his entire world again flash black and white was the heat and the pressure alike was making his breath hitch the inflexion.
At last, the Behemoth's molten energy around its outline finally reached a critical point. The energy around it was making the red armor glow. As the armor was glowing and the beast was curling of a little, the rock and ground all around was starting to melt. The land around the beast's feet was actually turning into lava!
If someone asked Cana one of the most interesting things that has ever happened, this adventure and this beast they were fighting would most definitely make the cut. If she lived through this, she would tell the tale of how she fought a lava monster with the help of Cranky…is it were ever implied.
The molten energy was turning the energy running through the cracks of the earth into lava. Small cracks of fresh lava traveled beneath the surface, and Cana could look down and see the black rock beneath her was outlined in lava cracks.
Craig shook his head, his world coming back to making sense. When he looked at the Behemoth groaning and growling, and seeing the lava beneath it, he could feel an intense pressure boiling. The entire location was beginning to shake. The entire mountain itself was shuddering. Down beneath the battle, spikes of rock fell, and the streams of hot water were actually bubbling and boiling violently. Some of the walls inside cracked and lava could be seen from within. In some instances before the halfway point, the few entrances to the narrow cavern were already filled with lava.
At that moment…Craig stared. The beast let out one more energetic roar as molten lava was starting to pour from its mouth, and the red armor was glowing brighter and brighter.
"…oh shi-!"
BOOM!
The entire structure that was the enormous mountain shuddered as what seemed to have been an omnidirectional red energy wave exerted. It looked like lava, but the energy was too cool to have been such a thing. The shockwaves splattered straight through the rock, and outwards into the sunset sky. One couldn't tell that the sky was roaring with red. The bellowing red waves of energy were like embers encompassing the sky. They just kept reaching outwards, casting off into the distance. It was like red embers that were of early fireflies in the sky, only the difference was that they didn't rain down and explode or set everything ablaze. Rather, the temperature throughout the miles on end seemed to have increased by what felt like 10 Degrees Fahrenheit, if not 20.
Up above near the lake, the woman closed her eyes, grinning at long last in satisfaction. "At last…all was set right."
Back at the scene within the mountain's peak, the bright flash dimmed down, and the molten lava was revealed to have been completely turned into a fresh layer of rock. While it wasn't fully cooled down, the rock was black, with small pools of cooled black lava lying everywhere if not in a couple of spots. The lava outline in the Behemoth seemed to have been cooled as well, seeing as how it was but a dim red as it was at the very beginning in the encounter. The Behemoth itself was growling low, looking straight ahead as everything around it was completely destroyed. The walls around were destroyed, having some large holes or perhaps some chipped rock.
The Behemoth roared towards the ceiling, which was still surprisingly intact after that explosion, although it was dripping with gooey lava.
Among the carnage, there were still some rocks that were piled up in a few places, gathered with heavy loads of fresh rock also sticking them together. There were a few piles, but within them were Cana and Craig.
One of the piles shifted, and rocks that was left untouched by the dawn of that attack fell over. Cana grunted, her arms pushing the rock off and she tumbled towards the bumpy new ground. She thudded, groaning weakly. Unfortunately for the brunette, she wasn't unscathed within the blast wave. While the rocks did shield her from the direct explosion of fire and lava, the burning waves did leave a few patches of her skin to be charred some.
"Damnit…" She groaned weakly. She turned her body over, her exhaustion evident. She was dehydrated drastically, and while it did seem to cool down some, she was still feeling a brimming heat. One could say it was maybe 110 Degrees.
Cana managed to sit up, but she wasn't fortunate to fins any other means of company around her. Looking around, she saw that Craig was nowhere to be seen. "Craig…? Craig…?" She grunted as she struggled to get up. She pushed herself up, finding herself on her feet at long last. She looked around, seeing only a few piles of hardened rock everywhere. "Cranky…come on, this isn't a game. Where are you…?"
The Behemoth turned towards her, growling at the brunette in peril. Cana turned to find that she was alone to quarrel with a molten beast, and she couldn't run anywhere since everything beneath the mountain was nothing but cooled lava or fresh, smooth rock. In retrospect, she was out of luck.
She clutched her fists in frustration. "Damnit! Cranky, I could use that dumb luck of yours right about now!"
Beneath one of the rock piles, there was little space, little oxygen, and trapped heat. Craig's body had been dealt with their own fair share of energy burned away, along with skin. His arms, neck, face, and hands had been dealt with a few charred parts, but otherwise he wasn't lethally injured, Exhausted and feeling a lot of pain for sure, coming from a formidable and stubborn foe.
His eyes opened up, looking into the black of darkness. '…what does it take to put this guy down? This Behemoth…15,000 years of living, and it's had the power to increase land temperature. Is there really a means to overcome his lava?' His eyes shut, wincing. 'The hell am I doing? I can doubt! There's lives at stake! I gotta make this creep choke on his own filth! If only, I can move…'
Craig's strength had weakened considerably, and he was indeed tired. The crabby human being was beginning to black out, seeing nothing, and hearing nothing…
There was darkness, of which had nothing. All Craig could hear was the sound of wind. This wind was unfamiliar, as it was really the kind of wind you come across when you were flying.
"Don't give up!" There was an unfamiliar voice, deep in tone, and a little dark, but was it an enemy? "You're almost there! Move, human!"
"Keep going!"
"We'll support you from here on!"
"We can't get near, but you hold the key! Use our power and stop him!"
"Rid of it!"
There were more and more voices calling out from beneath, and Craig could tell they all meant well. They were empowering in a way. As the wind brushed past him, there was a silver light that engulfed everything. When the silver energy flourished, Craig could feel what was…power, power that coursed through him and every single cell in his body. Even the brains of the cells were in hyper-speed. The energy flourished within, and when the silver light faded, the energy around him made small outlines around him rainbow.
Everything was clear now. Clear as day. The sky was blue, and Craig was brimming with a fire in his eyes. He opened his mouth, unleashing what was a draconic roar that rattled the airspace. It was hard to make out what he was since he was in rainbow energy, but he seemed to have ascertained a long tail and horns as it seemed, though its uncertain. His objective was clear and in one direction: Up. He soared into the sky, his speeds reaching those of fighter jets. One could say he was going 1,000 miles per hour. He was speeding like a madman, winds surging past him. Something was in the sky as well, up ahead.
It looked to be in the upper Stratosphere, where Craig was flying towards. He saw it, and when he did, one could tell his eyes narrowed.
Many other on the ground looked up into the sky, their shock overwhelming their desire to do anything else. They saw a rainbow comet shoot into the sky, heading towards something that was so high up, that it went past the highest clouds in the Stratosphere, but then again, the folks were looking away from another section of the world.
Where Craig took off from was from what seemed to have been a remote island, where there was nothing but plants and large trees. Atop of the land were nine silhouettes, all of which looked up and roared at Craig, urging him to keep going.
Craig closed in, meeting something high in the sky. It looked like…the world's biggest tree…high in the sky.
As he closed in, his eyes widened, seeing the tree's one big eye opening up. It was red, and had no emotion. Craig closed in without stopping, even though the tree's eye looked down towards him.
"…oh god. Can't believe I'm actually doing this…"
Despite his doubts, he became a rainbow comet, heading towards the monster tree's roots as the sky and the sun were beginning to blacken.
Craig's eyes flashed open, gasping. Yet again he was caught baffled by that vision, of which was entirely new. 'What the hell?' It wasn't same as before; not a memory of the four years that went by, not of Cana and her mom, it was…different. In a way, similar to that one time when he was fighting Essence and unlocked, or remembered, that chi blade technique. 'Was that another memory? What was with those voices? And what was that power I felt? I was unlike anything that I've ever known.'
There was a long silence before he could think again.
'There's that feeling again. It's in my gut. It's like a magnet, a power of sorts. How is it that I'm feeling overwhelming power and Brownie nor anybody else is? It's freaking me out almost. Does it…involve those voices?' His eyes narrowed, sharpening. 'Only one way to find out for myself.'
The Behemoth roared down at Cana again, bellowing in anger. The brunette was out of options, with her only course of action was perhaps using Wind Edge or Explosion Cards to attack and stall. She couldn't exactly move anywhere either. The beast drew closer, thudding the ground and making her jump a couple of feet every now and again.
The Behemoth raised its arm again, ready to attack and finish Cana…
A sudden piece of large rock went flying in towards the monster, striking the side of its face. The rock shattered into fragments. The Behemoth nudged off towards the side, stepping off and shaking the pain away. It growled in anger as it looked off to the side, only to have yet another piece of rock fly into its face, shattering into fragments. And yet again the beast roared in anger and frustration. It bellowed outwards, rattling the ground as the pools of cooled lava bubbled and spilled in more than a few places.
Cana looked over, seeing Craig at long last, back on his feet and stood atop of the rock pile, looking serious at the monster towering over him. Cana looked quizzically at him, but even she had to admit it was about time. "About time your dumb luck comes to the rescue."
"This is where the part you say, my hero." Craig waved his brows towards her, giving heavily sarcasm.
Cana returned the sarcasm in kind. "You'll be a hero after you help me take care of this guy!"
Craig looked angrily towards her. "It's you helping me! Idiot!"
"GGRRROOOOH!"
The Behemoth roared violently, catching their attention yet again. Craig stopped his trademark snarking and his fangs bared up towards the violent monster, his anger at a peak. "You want your turn again? Fine!"
The Behemoth roared again, opening its giant mouth and reveling its lava-coated insides. Streams of red went inside as the cooled ground beneath the peak was beginning to act up again, the lava pools starting to bubble.
"Get ready! Bring it!" Craig crouched, ready to spring into action.
The Behemoth let out one last bellowing roar, exerting what was another red beam of catastrophic energy. The attack was compressed, but effective as the rock beneath was shuddering. Craig ran off, heading straight into the beam itself. It was borderline suicide, but Cana didn't know that. She just watched as time slowed down to a drastic level as Craig ducked beneath the beam, the brim of his hair missing the sheer blast of the attack. As the assault bored through more rock behind, Craig got his hands up, and he brushed them against the bottom of the beam. He ran along, his energy flow trailing through the beam and gathering residual traces. As the beam finally stopped, rock flying behind, Craig was seen darting with his hands and arms out, bright red energy morphed into swords. Just like with Essence, he made those similar energy blades from the flow of chi.
Cana's eyes were wide. "What?! How'd he do that?!"
Craig crossed his arms, lunging into the sky and met the Behemoth's abdomen. With a primal shout, he slashed, scoring a direct blow to the monster's abdomen. As he followed through, the monster roared, its charred black skin getting sliced into by his own power.
Craig fell back down, flipping. 'Gotta keep moving!' And that he did, Craig landed and tumbled. Within his tumble he got to his feet and went blitzing off in a sharp arch. He went towards the left knee, where a spike was. His eyes narrowed, his mind remaining empty, seeing energy waves just as he recounted. He jumped, slashing into the monster's knee spike. He landed, and thus he leaped away and spun, running of into another arch away as the spike was partially glinting, and then the pointed end came off.
The Behemoth roared in pain, the slicing of its own prowess forced onto it was but a harsh turning point. The beast snarled down, glaring at Craig as he was running back around.
Craig huffed as he was pressing forward, speeding on and saw an incoming claw. The Behemoth reached down again, lava outlining his red armor and figure yet again. Craig slid off to his side while on his feet, the giant hand reaching for him. He pivoted around and sliced in a diagonal fashion into the claw, the energy trailing around and again inflicting damage onto the voracious monster.
The Behemoth again roared out, his cries of agony reaching new heights. All around the odd-looking mountain, bellows and cries of agony could be heard, despite the three apparent slashes in that short instance.
Above, near the lake, the woman's eyes widened, hearing the anguish cries. Despite them being a few, they were loud, and very clear. Her eyes widened, her shock evident. "What?"
Craig dashed off once more, heading straight in for an attack. The Behemoth opened its large mouth yet again and surging more bright red energy that shuddered and heated up the air.
"Incoming!" Cana warned.
The Behemoth fired yet another red beam at Craig, closing in with streaking energy threads and waves that the male could see. With his eyes narrowed in, his focus on point, he brought his blades forward, and he went on the attack. They were angled, and as Craig went on ahead, he pivoted, grazing through the beam like he was born to plough through anything. The red beam was being utilized yet again as fuel for Craig's chi ordeal, and the blades he made elongated, thickening from the intricate pivoting and spinning Craig was doing as he was lunging ahead after the beam dissipated. The large chi-energy blades were out by his side as he took a massive jump.
Towering over the monster, Craig faced the bellow and open mouth, seeing the lava-like insides of the catastrophic beast. He crossed his blades once more in an X formation, falling towards the beast and flying right through the searing energy.
"We got question that need answering! And if you're not providing them, then choke on this!"
The Behemoth roared yet again as Craig darted down onto the charred black throat.
"Energy Arts – Furious Slice Crash!"
He crossed his arms, making another X trailing red as he slashed. He past the Behemoth, making a large red X on the throat flash. As Craig sailed downwards, he was met with the beast's tail, which he used the tailfin as a springboard. He sprung off the fin and landed on the ground, thudding his feet against the cooled lava earth beneath. As he remained still, the large energy blades fell apart, dissipating into thin air. Behind him, the Behemoth head and upper body was swallowed in a voracious eruption of its own energy. Bright red made the earth rattle, and the large monster that could turn a mountain into a volcano roared as the erupting blast made smoke and remnants of red flourish all around.
Small embers and red sparks daintily rained down onto the ground, and Cana stared with wide eyes as she watched Craig remain completely still. Craig slowly straightened back up, letting out a small sigh of relief as his arms dropped back to his side.
The large monster fell over, getting onto its knees and groaned as its red and lava eyes dilated. Its chin met the earth, making Cana again jump from the shuddering from beneath. At that instant upon falling, there was a chain reaction. The red cracks in the earth instantly stopped and dissipated for one; another was that the pools of lava stopped bubbling, and began cooling. The biggest benefactor, however, was the temperature, as it was finally starting to fall back down steadily.
Cana stared with absolute shock written on her face. She shook her head to snap back to reality, and then looked back at Craig again. "Craig, you okay over there?"
Despite the fatigue he was feeling, Craig was still standing. He turned his head back towards Cana, looking irritated as always. "I'm dehydrated, I'm partly burned, and worst of all, I'm hearing your voice…so yeah, I'm just great." He groaned.
Cana gave a sarcastic laugh. "Ha-ha, good to know." Her posture adjusted, and she stepped towards Craig, walking until she was perhaps twenty feet away from him. "So…what was that just now?"
Craig knew what she was talking about. He looked down at his hands, seeing the slight bit of char on them. He was back in a retrospective point, his eyes heavily focused on the valleys of energy within his very fingerprints. He was starting to see the chi flow again.
"…I don't know. It just…happened." It wasn't a lie, that wasn't his style. But he wasn't wrong either. He was brimming with enough questions already. He had no way of telling what exactly that was, but at least he knew it's what gave him an edge on the two most dire occasions he would ever come across.
Cana put a hand to her hip. "So you're saying that thing with those blades just now was on a whim?"
"I guess so." Craig's eyes gazed at her, narrowing somewhat. "But just so we're clear, I did almost all of the work…again."
Cana's expression turned angrily once more. "You suck."
"You double suck."
"You triple suck."
"You suck a hundred-fold…"
The Behemoth budged, its eyes opening back up. It let out a small groan, catching Craig and Cana by surprise once more. They instantly turned back, glaring at the beast as its gargantuan form arose once more. The oddest part of the whole thing was that its body was beginning to glow an angelic light, which left the perplexed.
"What's it doing now?" Cana wondered wearily.
The white glow began to emit specks that floated up from its body towards the ceiling, like white fireflies floating upwards, defying gravity. Craig and Cana watched in silence as the beast was still hunched over, emitting more white specks that floated into the air, disappearing amongst the cooling heat.
When all of the specks vanished into the air, the glow faded, and the Behemoth's lava and red eyes seemed to have cooled down. It raised its head, looking into the empty space of seemingly nowhere. Its gazing towards the cavern was like as though it was lost, and eventually it gazed down at Craig and Cana, seeing the serious and weariness the two harbored.
There was a long pause that cascaded around the atmosphere, awkwardness rising as a long stare down occurred. The large lava monster turned and lowered its head towards the pair, molten energy beginning to fume in its mouth again.
Craig crouched and reached for his swords…
'Humans.'
Craig and Cana stopped where they were, not willing to move as there was a voice that rattled through their heads. "Did you hear that?" Cana questioned. "Telepathy?"
'I am the guardian of this land. I have raised mountains, and have molded this earth from the dawn of humanity. I have controlled the temperature to make the light shine and cast away the floods that plagued the valleys of the vicinity. I am a Behemoth!'
Craig crossed his arms. "Your biting off more than what you can chew. Is there a point you're making announcing yourself?"
The Behemoth looked down directly towards Craig. 'Human, were you the one to rid me of that spell?'
"Spell?" Craig's gaze squinted, "You mean to tell me…" He thought back to those white specks floating up from the monster's body. "Now it makes sense, so you were controlled the entire time."
The Behemoth stayed still. 'For as long as thou can remember, generations of this accursed woman's family has used their power to suppress me, labeling me as the guardian of Fogbound. It was their doing that has led to many of my years away from the haven of the earth. It's by your actions that I have regained my reason. I have been active for far too long now.'
"You mean going dormant?" Craig emphasized.
'Correct. I have no desire to be a slave to that human and her wishes. Despite what lies ahead, I do not devote myself to such a high appeal.'
"What lies ahead?" Cana questioned.
The Behemoth raised his head back up, looking around at Cana and Craig. 'I dare say not for what you will witness, for I too dread of the true beast that lurks above…but I am grateful for having you help in regain my reasoning.' The Behemoth turned away, beginning to embark from where Craig and Cana came from.
Cana reached out towards it. "Hang on-!" She was cut off when Craig put his arm in front of her, keeping her from moving any further. He had a blank expression on his face, but one could tell that he was strongly silent. Cana looked back ahead, watching the Behemoth disappear into the darkness as the ground thudded with every step taken.
'The gears are shifting once more…I'm gonna have a hard time sleeping with all of the racket on the surface…'
With the commotion dialing down at long last, the energy in the air was gone, and Craig and Cana both watched it disappear. Again a long silence fell as they stared at the leaving Behemoth.
"…what was that all about?" Cana questioned before trying to put the pieces together. "True beast that lurks above…a human who manipulated its will…gears shifting…" The pieces only left her uneasy as she was looking like she was about to melt. "What's going on here?"
Craig stared ahead, saying nothing. "…" He then turned his head back around and stared towards the darkness that lied ahead. The sunset beamed through the many holes the battle had accumulated. The disappearing sunlight was, however, feeling like the dawn of something else. Above, there may be something indeed, but what? 'This feeling in my gut's drawing me in. My best bet is that if I reach the top, maybe there's a chance there's something part of my vision, but then again…' Rather wanting to use the remaining energy he used in battle to just walk, he began to embark onwards. "Hey, Brownie, stand there any longer and I'll mistake you for a statue, get moving."
Cana turned ahead towards Craig, frowning. "Fine." She huffed. The busty mage followed the sharp-toothed male, embarking onwards, leaving everything behind them in cooled lava, making ridges of wavy black everywhere.
In the dark waters of the lake, all was still and desolate. Nothing but pure water and rock was what resided in the dark reaches. It wasn't even water, but rather an entirely new world; an alien void that was but darkness, of which makes the large beast inside sleep. As Crag and Cana achieved a path to cross up towards the peak, they were unaware of what was resting at the bottom. The large structure's eyes again opened weakly. It was faint, but it could feel Craig coming forth. Upon sensing that particular energy, the beast's long tail shifted, moving rock that was over its armored tail.
"Hey Brownie, I think I see stars!"
"I can see some too. I think we've made it."
Reaching a long slope up the peak, they came across a lush grove of shrubs and bushes. The bushes were brimming with so much health and an abundance of water. As they went up the slope, reaching flat land, they found what they were looking for, and then some. When their feet treaded mossy ground, they also saw what lied amongst the moss and rock. And it made their eyes widen in sheer shock. They saw it, and by no means was it that small. The crystal-clear lake was boundless, reaching for miles on end. The surface glistened with fragments of minerals that fell from the waterfalls that Craig and Cana saw before. In all, it was the biggest lake they have ever seen.
"Oh god." Cana said, her eyes wide. "What…is this?"
Craig turned towards her. "Well, my uneducated creature, this is known as…a lake."
Cana gave Craig an exasperated glare. "Looks like an ocean if you ask me."
"Well I'm not asking you." Craig stepped closer towards the lake, stepping away from the mossy ground. His footing was against the moist rock beneath, which was surprisingly as cool as the nighttime air. Also adding the fact they were high above the sky, where the mountain was at cloud point it seemed. He stared out at the lake, looking into the depths of the blue water. "I could see the rock clearly. I was right from the start, there was a lake up here."
Cana looked at the scenery as well, from left to right slowly. "It is beautiful, I'll give it that."
Craig nodded with subtlety. "Yeah…" Again he was starting to feel digression. The energy in his core was flourishing like crazy. It's like whatever was attracting him, there was no question they were right on top of it. He looked around, not seeing much of anything else, except…
Cana gasped, her body turning towards what appeared to be people a good distance away. "Over there!" Craig turned to look at the large numbers of people gathered, all of which were amongst the bushes and shrubs as though a small bed community one could say. "It's looks like-!"
Craig turned towards the area. "Yeah, I see it too. Looks like we've struck gold."
Amongst the hundreds of people gathered, many started to look over, seeing the new faces that were Cana and Craig; and for once, they were people who weren't being dragged or escorted by the menacing Behemoth.
"Look, Mama!" A child pointed at them.
"New faces? Wait…"
Another bystander looked just as shocked. "Impossible. How did they get there?"
Another gasped. "Are they…"
"The ones who lifted this fog?"
The many spectators in question began to converge onto Craig and Cana, all of the hundreds of people gathered with hopeful looks in their eyes. They looked desperate, hoping to be finally off of the beautiful rock once and for all. Some had tattered clothing, some looked poor in health, but despite their various conditions, they were all looking extremely glad Craig and Cana arrived when they did.
Craig looked at the numbers and saw how the little community seemed to have gone on for what looked like a quarter of a mile along the shoreline. "Look at all of this." He shook his head, slightly in disbelief. "Look at all of the people pillaged. It makes me wanna spew."
"I know what you mean." Cana said. "They look as though they haven't had a Christmas all their lives, and we're the present. Well, guess I'm not wrong there."
Craig stepped forward, taking slow steps towards the people. He stopped maybe fifty feet from the nearest person, in between being rock, moss, and small shrubs that grew from the pure water. He looked all around, seeing not even wild rabbits or other creatures. 'There's nothing but vegetation here. Have they been gorging on nothing but healthy greens and nothing else all this time?' While Craig himself doesn't mind the need for greens, he can't imagine a life without having other food groups. Fish would've worked fine, but even that wasn't present. Unlike his own need to crush and tear off flesh, regular people eat less than what he does, but nonetheless it wasn't a prosperous thought. 'Nothing but vegetation for a few years, some maybe the rest of their lives. Is this really how they've been coping?'
A woman holding a child looked at Craig, giving a desperate gaze. "Please, are you here to help us?"
Craig turned all around once more, seeing the ongoing looks of hope. He's seen this hundreds of times before, and every single time there was no way he could ever turn down lost souls. Despicable or not, there were those who were in need of help, no matter the danger.
Craig stepped forward, but before his feet planted against the ground, he stopped cold. It was like he froze in place out of shock, only the difference was that he didn't at all seem to be shocked, and instead showed hostility. The next second, he retracted his foot and pivoted, his attention drawn towards the woman not too far from his location. He bared his fangs, seeing the hollow yet heavy look that was accompanied by the foreboding Magic Power. The people around were also greatly affected, for they were also looking petrified in fear. She was different from the others, seeing as how she was far from desperate, and wanted to kill him.
The brunette not far from Craig turned towards the woman. "Looks like we got a new face."
The woman stared coldly at Craig and Cana as the two were in position to strike if push came to shove. "You both. You did this." She warned, Craig and Cana knew what she was talking about. "You've taken away the secrecy of the world. You've opened up this holy land to outsiders. By lifting this fog, you sealed the fate of many lives."
However, Craig wasn't having it from her. "Were you the one pulling the strings from the start?" He growled.
The woman's eyes narrowed. "I pull no strings. I am merely holding onto tradition."
"Oh yeah? Well it seems to me that your traditions got a few screws loose in its works."
"Silence! It's your fault that the fog has been lifted, and the great guardian has returned to the earth. My predecessors have spent generations using their Supremacy Magic to use the great one's powers for the sake of protecting this mountain and its worth. And thousands of years this land has been untouched by time or humanity."
"Because you imprison it for the rest of its own life?" Craig intervened.
The woman again showed a lot of hostility. "It's for their own good, and now you have to pay with your life! You've ruined this legacy!" She made white energy converge to her hands, surging into beams ready to be fired. "I, Deity, will eradicate you-!"
She was cut off by a sudden strike to the throat. The woman gagged when she suddenly found the back of her head hitting stone. Her assault completely backfired when she again felt a pressure on her left shoulder. Her entire body was pinned against the ground, Craig's right foot on her shoulder, and his hand against her throat. The attack was so fast that Deity saw nothing but blurs until she got a harsh, cold glare from Craig, who had all of his sharp teeth bared against her.
Everybody watching reeled back out of shock, even Cana was caught surprised. "Whoa! O-kay…"
Deity's breath hitched as Craig's sharp teeth looked like they could tear into her own flesh. "Look lady, you've caught in a BAD mood right now! You make this stupid fog, and kidnapped hundreds of people and imprisoned them for the rest of their lives! You make them suffer, and you give no damn about this secret of the world. Well if I have to…I'll stare this secret in its face and tell it to let these people go."
Deity's eyes widened. "You wouldn't." She muffled.
"I dare."
"You don't understand!" Deity bellows. "For centuries, the greatest being to have ever been created by god has been entrusted to make its power obscene to the world. It was never meant to be found out to begin with, for disaster would surely fall." Deity craned her neck, looking towards the clear lake. "This water, it's as pure as the ancient wisdom that it carries. You can't possibly live now that you know of such knowledge that could spill into the world! My ancestor's magic, gone! The fog that trapped many for this sake that I lay bare…"
"Shut up."
"…what did you just say?" Deity was matched with another astonishing and frightening look by Craig.
The man bared his teeth once more. "I don't care if this is the biggest secret of the world. This planet and all of its life changes. If something happens, it either just happens, or it's for a reason. But in your case, your reason, is nothing but crap." He let go of her throat, allowing her to breathe better than before. He continued to glare down at her, sea-blue eyes that paralyzed her to the bone. "I'll say this one more time… I'll stare this secret in its face and tell it to let these people go."
Deity scrambled to her feet, her mind in a fritz. She stared at Craig liked she was seeing a ghost. "Y-you're crazy! You're borderline inhumane! I will die keeping this legacy a secret!"
"Secrets, no matter how big or small, one way or another, they'll be found out eventually. That's the reality. And no legacy is worth keeping people and their dreams harbored and to never come true."
"So you're saying lives are more important than the world's safety?"
"Lives are what make a difference in this world. However you see it, this world is never safe. There is no such place to call safe. You were just hiding that fact all these generations and believed that this big secret of yours is like your own personal treasure." Craig raised a fist. "But if you stand in the way of me having to free these people, then I won't have any qualms with killing you. How's that for reality?"
"Craig!" Cana yelled.
Craig snarled back at her. "What?"
Cana was seen with wide eyes. She was staring out towards the massive lake. She looked as though she was shuddering out of fright. Her intense stare was a mix of terrified as well. She was looking out, seeing the lake's clear water shift.
Beneath Craig and Deity, there was another rumble. Deity saw yet another ripple bellow from below the surface, and it was startling her. Her eyes went wide in horror yet again. "He…he's arising?" She turned towards the hundreds of people close to the shores. "You fools! He's stirred once more! The great one is resurfacing!"
Craig looked out at the lake, and then directed his attention back at Deity. She looked back at him with energy cladding her fists.
"You did this! You're an unholy being! He shouldn't be moving at all, and yet you've stirred the world apart!"
Craig looked back ahead, watching the calmness of the lake beginning to surge. Cana was feeling a great deal of energy, one might say even larger than a Council Etherion blast, far greater! The brunette stepped back, finally seeing something humungous beneath the surface finally get an underwater view.
Deity was panicking, but all she could do was get onto her knees and bow her head towards the rising water. She closed her eyes, not bearing to see the great one.
However, Craig looked ahead, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. The core in his stomach was tightening, and it was making him feel…weird. He clutched his stomach, feeling a tightness that went through his veins. 'This familiar energy. This is it!'
The entire lake was shifting, and a slight bulge of water erupted, becoming a humungous bulge of rising water that became a mountain. As water rained down, the many people all looked away, some scared adults were cowering in fright. They were overwhelmed, their hearts stopping from seeing something that could not be unseen.
Cana and Craig both went wide-eyed, seeing how awe-striking it was. Their eyes dilated, the horror in their gazes also evident. They both saw something that was HUMUNGOUS!
"Holy crap!" Cana screamed.
Slowly rising, there seemed to be something that was perhaps twice the size of a dragon. It was that massive in size. The beast was what some might say the world's largest turtle. The water-dweller's skin and its shell was gray. The shell was massive, being the entire middle of the body. Al around the shell, there were hundreds of small spikes. The large shell also, however, had diverted ridges that revealed green inside. The arms and the legs made it clear that it was four-legged, but the appendages were green, and there were claws. The elbow and around the forearms, however, there were plates of gray with spikes. The back had a huge, long tail. Gray and spiky on the upper side and green on the underside. The face was an entirely different story. The face itself was green, and the eyes were red with yellow irises. The pupils, however, were small, making it look slightly menacing in a way. The entire outside of the face was within a clamshell, but the ridges were nothing but claws. It was like a face shield almost.
The biggest surprise of them all…was the monstrous green gems on its back. They were dark green, like most of the beast. In total, there were three, but those three gems were enormous, taking up the top and the sides. They were looking flat as well.
The mountainous beast's curved ridges made water spill from the sides. It's clam-like facial armor was open, so they could all see into the eyes. The eyes were only as big as a grown adult, like Craig. The man stood with a shocked expression, feeling a dominant force that left his spine shivering. Still, he stayed silent and stared at the large beast, seeing as how the head alone was almost twice as tall as his own crappy house.
The beast let out a low growl, its tail's open end looking like it could shoot beams or blasts of water with power to drown a city in one shot. Its growling was accompanied with the claws or teeth on its facial armor wiggling, making it look even scarier.
"…oh my god." Cana muttered, paralyzed in fright. "What the hell is this thing?"
Deity's body was shuddering. Her fear was getting the best of her. She wouldn't dare look up. "G-Great one…? Have you come to give punishment?"
The three-gemmed beast remained still, staring ahead. It looked at Craig, who was remaining still as a statue. The beast's large tail fell back to the water, splashing with great might to make large waves flourish. The monster's growling stopped, but its stare was gazing left to right, seeing all of the startled and petrified faces of the people. And he could see other beings of the world, such as the shamed Deity, and then a shocked Cana. He looked forward towards Craig, who was still staring.
Craig took in a deep breath, and finally exhaled. "So that's the big secret. Emphasis on big for sure."
Slowly, he stepped forward. Deity opened her eyes, still looking at the ground. "W-wait! You really are going through with speaking to the almighty?!"
"I've stared a god in its face before." Craig smirked. "And the look on his face when I swore was priceless." He resumed a frown. "Still, I hold true to what I said. I'm staring this guy down." He walked up, his feet towards the water's edge. He continued looking with a steadily gaze while the three-gemmed monster slowly drifted its way towards Craig, making streams of water flow daintily around its body.
Cana shook her head at Craig. "I knew it…you were nuts all along."
The monster slowly drifted ahead until it was perhaps a hundred meters away from Craig. Small waves crashed against the shore. The two were again in an intense stare-down, in which Craig's sea-blue eyes met the bizarre eyes of the monster.
It was back and forth, and the odd tension in Craig's gut was boiling. It was like he was on fire, but he could only respond by clutching his fist tight, making his bones crack. As he and the humungous monster glared back and forth, there was a silence, as if instead the speech was going on through their eyes. The monster's eyes shrunk, focusing in on Craig.
Craig finally spoke up. "Alright pal, I've got a few choice words for you. I hope you're prepared." He warned. "You can remain a damned secret for all I care, but your little guardian over here believes keeping people prisoners justifies your safety." He shook his head. "Well I'm saying this to your face – let them go home, right now."
His words were so bold, and yet it's like he was borderline stupid rather than gutsy. He had a lot of nerve to challenge the three-gemmed monster, but he had his reasons for doing so. The years he's been through, he's ascertained so much, and that included having a backbone. It was like staring the Death God in its own face, which was perhaps a great sin, but Craig looked like he gave no damn. He made it clear that the people deserved to be free, no matter what.
There was another wave of tension, and the many folks watching were petrified, some almost on the verge of passing out. They wanted to believe this was a dream, but this was reality, and the reality itself was a harsh thing to deal with.
The monster's eyes remained shrunk on Craig, looking at him in the eyes. The two again stared, but then Craig's gut pulsated. A heartbeat could be heard within his head. Looking at the three-gemmed beast, he was having a rapid flash of events. There were a humungous bunch of animals or monsters, and some odd figures as well. There was also a tree of sorts, and a rainbow light. After that, the visions all cleared out, with his eyes again showing deep shock. 'What the heck was all of that…?' He looked t the three-gemmed beast again, seeing it stare again at him. 'Who are you…?'
The monster's eyes expanded back to normal once more, it having a good look at Craig. It gave a low growl once more, this one being towards Craig more to anyone else. Craig only stood there, accepting the growl. That growl, however, Craig again felt another odd sense flow. 'What is this odd feeling…is it…communicating?'
The beast seemingly drifted back out to the lake, slowly moving away from Craig and the shores.
Deity looked up, her worries overshadowing her judgment. "W-wait, great one!" The beast continued to sail back out, backwards. "Great one! What about your reveal?! You really are okay with this?! You're really accepting this?! GREAT ONE~!"
The beast said nothing, not bothering to growl back. Once out far enough in a comfortable place, the beast stared out at Craig one last time before its hulking figure began to drift downwards. The water beneath wave all around, and the beast's massive head and tail slowly sunk deeper, and then its large back was next, until finally the last bit of its spiky shell fell back into the water.
Down beneath the surface, the monster's huge frame sunk backwards into the darkness, the yellow eyes staring menacingly as they did when they were open. The monster fell back to the bottom of the lake, towards the darkness of the lake's bottom.
Craig stared out, the cold winds of the night shifting his jacket tied around his waist. He looked back down, his eyes narrowing. He dared say nothing. What he saw, and what he felt, it was unlike anything he's seen before. It actually made him see quick flashes, but they were too fast to make out. Still, it was frightening in a way.
Deity stared ahead, her disbelief mounting on her shoulders. "Great one? You…?"
Craig looked towards her, seeing how still she was. "Well if he's got nothing to say, guess we better take our leave."
Cana caught up with Craig moments later, the team turned towards one another with a slight look of inflection. Craig stared at Cana, his head slightly shaking.
All Cana did was nod in understanding.
The guardian of the lake had no choice. She watched as Craig and Cana rally up every person there, every single body she's obtained in the name of secrecy accounted for. She wanted to stop them, but if the three-gemmed giant was aroused just to stare at Craig and drift back to the bottom at ease, then what was there or her to do? Was he a threat? If so, why didn't he kill them? Was there something special? But if she tried stopping them, she'd be defying the beast's will. She turned her back to face the calm water once more, looking away as Craig ushered the group of hundreds from behind while Cana led them back down the mountain.
In short, Craig and Cana were bombarded with villagers questioning them, but when people began to show up behind them, they seemed to have been forgotten as family members rejoiced. All of the lost souls held prisoner up atop of the mountain's lake were crying tears of joy, embracing family members left behind, some whole families looked pacified with greater hugs from others. Craig and Cana could still remember the happiness they all had. It actually made Craig smile out of pure bliss. Can thus understood what Craig meant when the happiness far outweighed the reward. It was an odd feeling, but it really did make Cana smirk with happiness to see fathers and mothers reunite with children who were either taken or left behind. Warm fuzzy feelings dwelled inside the duo, and safe to say they've done the impossible.
Despite it being late, the entire village threw a huge celebratory party. Everywhere there was food, drinks, and a varied assortment of other objects that could spell party. A few neon decorations were in front of the tents, and the celebration didn't look like it was gonna end anytime soon.
That night, Craig and Cana were the stars. Everybody loved them, despite their judgment from earlier. People were nearly swamping them, much to Craig's annoyance, which ended with him baring his fangs, which startled many. But what startled folks the most was perhaps his voracious appetite. When there was a stuffed chicken made, Craig devoured even the bone, snapping up every morsel, much to the bewilderment of many.
Cana raised a brow. "Seriously Cranky, when and where did your manners go?"
Craig looked back at her as he swallowed. "I ate those too."
"You're the worst." Cana groaned.
"Why thank you. I'm humbled by your kindness." Craig teased.
"I hope you throw up."
"I might from looking at you."
"I might spew from even hearing from you!"
"I could just roll over and vomit from even the sheer thought of you acting being peasant for once!"
The folks around blinked, slightly confused by their snarking and bickering. Fortunately a familiar face decided to enter at just the right time.
"Ahem!" The voice caught Craig and Cana's attention, making them glare back at the direction. It was Kai, and he was looking mighty proud with his son behind him.
"What do you want?" Craig asked.
Kai still smiled, despite the rude tone thrown at him. "Craig, Cana, as the leader of Fogbound, I am in your debt. I've been misjudging your character…more or less."
Craig waved him off. "Meh."
"I apologize for not believing in alternatives. I had no idea the beacon was what they were after." Kai looked down with regret. "I was a fool."
Drake put a hand on his father's shoulder, giving him comfort. "Buck up. They did manage to bring them all back to us."
Kai looked back at his sun, smiling. "Indeed. I'm just glad my son's back as well!"
Drake smiled. "I am too!"
"Well looks like we got something else to celebrate huh?" Cana noted. "Hey! Anybody got some booze?"
Craig rolled his eyes, looking instead towards the night sky.
Throughout the party, there was jolliness, hope, joy, and more food. A large bonfire was the center of it all, and even though many were happy, they did question what happened. They could see a mountain in the distance, and it was odd-shaped. It was visible to all within the vicinity. However, when anybody answered, they'd only say they were imprisoned at the top by a madwoman. Craig and Cana knew it was for the best. They were smart enough to know that whatever was in that lake was meant to left alone.
After what finally felt like an eternity, the sun began to rise at long last. The celebration and party had been dragged on even through that morning. It was hard partying, but all Cana did was drink, and Craig just looked bored, though both stayed out of the other's way.
Craig walked on over, seeing Cana lying in the grass with booze bottles surrounding her. He despondently looked at her brown mop. He put his foot close to her back, nudging her. "Hey, Brownie, rise and gloom."
"Nnngh?" Cana moaned, her eyes opening up. She sat up, her gaze looking irritated. She looked up at Craig, seeing him unamused. "Cranky…?" She looked away, trying to get up in the process. "Great, my day's already ruined, with the first sight being you."
Craig turned away, already beginning to walk. "Whatever. Come on, we gotta fetch our cargo."
Cana knew what he meant. It was time to go, and that meant picking up a certain someone that Craig almost killed. Cana swore she almost paled, but persevered as she finally stood up.
Minutes later, the two made it to the tent Erza was in. She was still in bed, but when Craig talked to the medical professional from before, he said that she would be fine to stand and walk around, so long as she didn't run by any means, otherwise her wounds would open again. When looked to see Craig and Cana enter, she looked with disinterest.
Craig said nothing, but instead he just looked down as the mighty Titania only stared at him, her glare in utter remorse. When Craig shook his head, Erza and he knew it was best to drop it and rather hold off on any dispute…for now.
Cana, instead, spoke. "Erza, how're ya feeling?"
Erza turned towards her, looking a little calm than before. "Fine." She said flat. There was an awkward silence between them before Erza picked up her tone again. "I heard you both completed the task…all by yourselves."
Cana shrugged. "You can say that. It's a long story, but details aren't important."
"They will be when the master asks." Erza warned them.
Although Craig wasn't buying it. "Like I said before, don't care."
"But-!" She was cut off by Craig yet again.
"Listen you hothead, I already put you in that bed. You've seen me tear things apart without second thought. You think that old man frightens me? I've seen worse, and I've beaten up worse. We're not getting punished, that's the damn truth." Craig turned his back to her. "Now get up, it's time we went off."
Erza stared at Craig, her gaze slightly in discomfort. While she wanted to see him get punished, she knew trouble was gonna erupt when they get back anyway. For now, she'd let it slide and see how the Master deals with them when they get home.
A few minutes later, as Cana was supporting Erza, the group of three stood outside of the village gates, seeing the hundreds of people gathered. All of them had large smiles.
"Again, I can't thank you enough for all that you've done." Kai said.
Craig shrugged. "Just doing our job. Don't mention it."
"I just wish we could pay you more out of gratitude."
"He said stop." Cana said. "Our arrangement was more than sufficient, alright? Besides, what are you gonna do now that your little expedition village is back to normal?"
Drake stepped forward, again smiling. "Actually, my Dad and I agreed that Fogbound will be heading back to our home town. In a couple days, I think we'll pack our things and tents and go."
All three nodded in understanding.
Kai gave one last smile towards Craig. "I hope all goes well."
Craig raised a brow. "Don't get your hopes up pal."
Craig, Cana, and Erza were all then given a healthy farewell as everyone waved them off. All three turned their backs and made way up the slope and began to trek back into the mountains. They passed several trees, making them be out of sight of the villagers, when they were gone, Craig turned his back one last time, his eyes set not on the village, but the mountain in the distance.
A wind passed him, one that was but a shrilled tension. 'That beast in the lake, what was it trying to tell me?' His eyes narrowed. '…something's been set in motion, and I don't think it's even begun.'
…
Deity was still on the rock bed, staring at the calm, clear water. She stared with a slight anger and confusion in her eyes. "Why?" She asked. "Great one, why did you let them go? Are you saying something will come? That boy have some key? I…I don't understand."
Down beneath the surface, the three-gemmed beast was sitting on the bottom, his monstrous gaze still set into the norm. "…" The voracious mountain itself recalled when he stared at Craig, but he was something, something that the beast itself had somehow appealed to. If it had been any other human, he wouldn't have awoken in the first place, but Craig had some vibe, and that's what intrigued him. At the same time…terrified.
The beast's clam-like helmet closed, its eyes shutting as the teeth closed, snapping its head free from any field of vision. He fell into a slumber once more, biding his energy, hiding. Conserving. Thanks to Craig's arrival, something has been set in motion, something that made him close up to begin with. It was only a matter of time before he came along, and that meant as of now, the clock is ticking. Who knows how long the world has left…before it happens a second time.
And here's the Fogbound Arc conclusion guys! How was it? Was it good? Did it suffice? There's going to be wheels turning with great momentum, especially with what that monster Craig met with and those images he's seen. There's also going to be a lot of commotion between him and Fairy Tail, and then his past 4 years will be revealed, and you'll learn more of his personality and traits, as well as a few more traits and abilities even he wasn't aware of. Until next chapter!