Breath of Fire: Of Time and Destiny
Chapter Five: New Crisis
Time:Goddess Era 2520
Location:Township, Aspiara
"Whoa…." Zack response has summarized what others have thought as well as they have entered through the town gate. They were already surprised by Nina's Teleport spell which have teleport them from Hometown to Township, which is basically one continent to another. This kind of ability is considered possible to only the highest level of mages in Terra and to think someone as young as Nina could do that surprised them.
Jack and the others got another surprise when they see Township consists of ordinary common houses that sat in the middle of the town, log houses (with a gondola as a mean of transport to come between forests that separates them) sat at the right side of town and Arabian style houses on the left side. On top of all that, there is only one tall building with a dragon statue by its side located at the north of the town, with a fountain in the path leading to it. Both Selphie and Diana look at the town with awe while the boys are slack jawed at the different style this town offer.
"Come on guys. Let's show you where your rooms are." Ryu smiled proudly at his new friends' reaction. "Hey Ryu, where do you guys live? These common houses or the log houses or those houses over there?" Selphie asked them while pointing her finger to three different houses.
"Actually we live in that building." Bow grinned and points his finger to the tall building with the dragon statue, which once again have Selphie and the others stare in awe again.
"WHAT! I thought that building is for the village elder!" Zack cried out in surprise and then gasped. "Could it be…..you guys own this town?"
"Not really. When I first came to this 'town' in the past, there is only one broken house. Then Ryu managed to get some carpenters here and they expand it into this town you saw today." Katt explained quickly and simple.
"How much does it cost for you guys to build and expand it?" Jack finally asked after another few minutes of awe.
"Ummm…..actually we just got it free of service after helping the carpenters from a certain incident." Nina spoke softly, which Jack immediately turn and looked at her wide-eyed.
"Really? Free of service? No costs to you?"
"Hey! Are you doubting Miss Nina's credibility? I believe in every word she says about this and this is fine by me." Zack immediately jumped to Nina's defense, which surprised Jack. Now it was Xing Long's turn to ask Zack with a look of suspicion.
"Zack, did a brick hit your head? You never give anybody an honorific address before, so why start now?"
"S-shut up! Nobody ask for your opinion about my behavior!"
"Um, excuse me Zack. You don't have to call me 'Miss', just Nina will do." Nina spoke softly; to which Zack immediately give her his 100 attention.
"Of course! Miss Nina! I-I mean Nina!" Nina is quite startled by his behavior that she can only nod in return. While Jack and Xing Long just exchange looks of confusion, Diana just giggled softly at the scene.
"Hey Diana, what's so funny?" Yua asked her with Selphie looking at Diana as well. "No, it's nothing. But something incredible and funny is about to happen in the near future." She replies mysteriously, to which both Yua and Selphie just shrugged, not understanding what she meant.
Ryu decide to catch everyone's attention by clearing his throat. As soon as everyone gives him their full attention, he spoke. "Now that I have your attention, let us go and get you settled in, I'll tell you later about the town's history after that."
"Are you sure you can give us rooms like that? I just hope we do not cause inconvenience to you….." Jack worriedly expressed his opinion but Katt immediately dismissed it.
"Nonsense! You do not cause anybody inconvenience and besides we want to help you because we want to. Right, Ryu?" Ryu nodded his head in agreement.
"Well now that it is over, shall we go in? If this takes any longer, I could be a BBQ dog out here." Bow urged at his friends with a mock desperation, which have everyone laughing. After that, everyone then went in the tall building.
After a brief introduction with Niro who act like a receptionist at the counter and the shamans who lived next door whose sexy outfits have Jack and Zack tried to look at their faces instead of somewhere lower while Xing Long remain impassive about this (Jack wondered how he managed to do that), they finally went inside the building and survey them. Ryu have told them that the house have been renovated recently so it was a little bigger than before (Jack doesn't think that the word 'little' is good to describe this). On the ground floor pass the receptionist room is the living room where several couches and chairs and a big table is located.
The stairs leading upstairs is at the side with a bookcase. A doorway leading past the bookcase leads to a spacious dining hall with a large kitchen by the side. Diana comment that the dining table is probably enough to accommodate at least 10-20 people. After that, they went upstairs and see that there are at least 6 rooms in the first floor, Yua told them the other three floors also have the same number of rooms, making it 24 rooms in total.
"Why do you guys need so many rooms for? You say there are only five of you staying here and plus us, that leaves ten-plus rooms. So why?" Selphie look at her new friends astonished.
"Well….due to the recent event, our home was slightly damaged and Niro probably took the chance to upgrade it, with us paying the bill." Ryu respond with a shrug of his own. "Besides, with some of our friends going to their respective home, this place does look very empty with only us around." Bow added as well.
"Wow, if you guys didn't convinced me that this is your home to begin with, I would have thought you guys are starting a five star inn as your business venture." Jack marveled.
"Well……ranger job is much better than that. I prefer to go around the world and help people in need." Ryu said modestly. "But enough about that, you guys can pick which room you want at the second floor." Jack and the others nodded, then they proceed to go up the stairs. Xing Long is the last one to go up when he turn around. "Just one question, there is supposed a sixth room here that is unoccupied, right?"
"No, it is occupied. A scientist by the name of Eichici lives there, she's currently working right now." Nina replied, to which Xing Long thanked her then went up.
"Man, I'm beat." Jack lie down on his bed after putting his bag and bo staff on the table. He then began to comprehend what Ryu and the others told him so far: an ancient book from two millennia ago, Ryu used it and accidentally 'summoned' them, Stella and others missing, particular summon spell vanished after one use...
Jack doesn't know why, but something just doesn't feel right to him. He knew Ryu and his friends can be trusted and genuinely wish to help them, he knows that for some unknown reason, but it is about that ancient book he felt curious about. Whoever wrote that book must have been a powerful mage to make a spell to create that vortex, but then why it appear before him and his friends at Terra? Is it because they were at the wrong place at the wrong time or could it be……..
Just then a knock snapped him out of his thought and he promptly sat up on his bed. "Come in." He called out and then the door open with Katt walking in the room. "Hi Jack, just wanted to know whether you felt comfortable in your room. Is it ok?" Katt spoke first, taking him by surprise but he smiled at her.
"Of course. This room is fine and the bed is comfortable. Thank you for your concern. So what brings you here?"
Katt smiled back to him, secretly glad that Jack has asked the question. "Well…I was wondering whether you want to join me for a spar? Since you carry a bo staff and I wanted to see how skilled you are."
"Sure, why not? It is better than sitting here thinking about so many stuff." Then he proceeds to take his bo staff from the table and walks to her. "So, shall we go?"
Katt happily obliged and led Jack out of their home and towards a clear grass field behind the apartment building. "So Jack, how good is your skill with bo staff?" She asks after distancing herself from Jack, then dropped into her battle stance.
"Well, it depends on your perspective of skill though, but in my world most of my colleagues considered my skill to be pretty good." Jack spins his staff before assuming his own battle stance. "But, I guess that will be proven right now, don't you thnk?" Jack gave her a wink.
"You sure are modest, aren't you? In that case, I'll let you make the first move." Katt smiled, as she begin to take more interest on Jack. Jack smiled back, then his expression immediately went serious and charged forward, delivering two successive swings at Katt, whom easily dodged them and counterattack with her own blows, but Jack successfully block every blow she made.
This spar match has been going on for half an hour, with neither side gaining advantage over each other. Both combatants have been exchanging blows, block and counterattack for some time, until both of them have their staff lock to each other…..then they just simply sat down and laugh.
"Wow, it's been a long time since I have a good sparring partner. You're pretty fast and I could barely dodge or block your attacks." Jack spoke after they finish laughing and gave her a big grin.
"Barely? Just give yourself more credit, will you? Not many people have been able to block or dodge my attack except Ryu. But even so, you are quite amazing." Katt smiled as well, gaining respect to the young man in front of her.
Then Jack finally stands up, then extended his hand to Katt, which she accepts and got up with his help while blushing a bit.
"So Jack, you probably haven't heard of St Eva and DeathEvan since you came here, right?" She asks, to which he shook his head. "Nope, Can't say I've heard of it."
"Then let's go in and tell the whole story to you guys with Ryu and the others!" She winked to him and immediately pulled him back to the apartment.
"Hey Katt! You don't have to pull me! You're going to pull my arms off!"
Time:Goddess Era 2020
Location:Windlan, Aspiara
"Brrrrr….Why is it so cold today? Yesterday it was still warm and cozy…" Stella complained to herself after she woke up in the morning, only to feel cold after getting off the bed. She immediately went to the window and pull the curtain hoping the sunlight will help disperse the cold air in the room. Instead of the warm sunlight that baths in, all she saw is a severe snowstorm outside.
"A snowstorm? I don't remember anybody say anything about that." Stella begin to wonder when a knock, which sound urgent, came from her bedroom door. She immediately grabs her jacket from the table and went to open the door, only to see Miyako standing there, panting.
"Oh good! You've already awake! Come on, you got to hurry!" Miyako immediately grab Stella's hand and literally pull her along.
"W-Wait! Just calm down and tell me what's going on? Why is there a snowstorm right now?" Stella spoke while zipping her jacket to keep herself warm. She was surprised by Miyako's current behavior, who in the past always acts like a tough and serious girl, but now what she sees in front of her is a slightly panicked girl.
"All will be explained at the main hall. Come on, the others are waiting too." With that, both girls quickly make their way to the main hall. Stella survey her surroundings whatever place she pass by and saw only one common thing: confusion. Guards, maids, scholars and every castle staff seems to be gossip around, trying to find out why a snowstorm at this time of year and say it is a bad omen or such.
When they arrived at the main hall, she saw Bob, Robert and Raquel along with Raifel is there waiting for them. "Finally! The sleeping beauty is here! How about a morning kiss for me?" Robert spoke jokingly to her.
"Cut the crap, Robert. This is a serious matter around here and all you can do is joke around?" Stella look at him incredibly, who raised his hands in defeat.
"Great….I thought I could just lighten the mood around here. Alright, rule no. 1: Blame Mr. Robert here for all the bad jokes."
"If you two are finished, I think it's time we find out what's with that snowstorm. Raifel?" Bob turn to his winged friend, who nodded his head and turn to face everyone grimly.
"As you all probably aware, this snowstorm is not exactly natural, consider this is summer season of the year. We do not have enough information as to why it appear but according to our sources, it seem to originate from the southern sea and parts of the area near there has completely frozen up. Now that particular snowstorm has finally hit us and most of the northern area has the same phenomenon as we are. That is all I know at this point." As Raifel finished his report, everyone began to stare each other in disbelief.
"This is freaky….a snowstorm appearing out of nowhere and freeze everything in its path….Do you guys think that this is a work of magic?" Miyako asks Raifel, but it was Raquel who shook her head.
"It is hard to tell. This snowstorm seems to obscure anyone from detecting its magical properties. Whoever did this must be a powerful mage….." Raquel put her opinion forward.
"I guess so too. Though I would like to chat and discuss more, but unfortunately duty calls to me, so I must take my leave." Raifel bow solemnly.
"Thanks pal for telling us about this. If you guys got more info about this, tell us." Bob smiled to his friend, who smiled back and leave the room.
"Hey guys! Where is Nina now?" Stella asks. "She's at the throne room with her father and his advisers to discuss about this situation, I think they still trying to figure out what's going on." Robert replied to her.
Upon hearing that, Stella began pacing around, thinking hard about the current matter. Then, as if she has decided, she prepares to go out the room. "Hey Stella, where are you going?" Bob asks, but it was Robert who answered his question.
"Let me guess, you want to go to the throne room and eavesdrop on the discussion, right?" Stella stops dead at her tracks with a giant sweat drop on her head. "I guess that is a bingo."
"WHAT!" Miyako immediately charged forward and proceed to strangle Stella. "Are you nuts? You're going to get yourself a death warrant if you do this! Even if Nina will vouch for you, you still going to get life imprisonment for this!"
"Will you just calm down, Miyako!" Stella managed to pry her hands away from her neck. "Sitting here and waiting for news is not my style and I prefer to know what the king knows about this!"
"I can't calm down with you trying to make a stupid move such as this!" Miyako exasperated at her friend, who cover her ears from the barrage of words. "Besides, why do you need to do that when Nina can just come out and tell us everything?"
Before the argument can go any further, they heard a commotion at the throne room and a shriek from Nina. All five friends look at each other, then they proceed to run to the throne room, thinking trouble struck there. When they arrived however, they were surprised to see Zeke is carrying Nina on his right arm, who is now cursing at her bodyguard and frantically tried to free herself.
"Let me go! Zeke! I'll pluck all your feathers from your wings if you don't!"
"What should I do with the princess, your highness?" Zeke ignored Nina and look intently at the King. The King then thinks for a while and gave an order that stunned Stella and her friends.
"Shut her in her room."
"Yes, your majesty. I will do that…." Zeke proceed to carry Nina to her room and she is still struggling against him.
"Stella! Bob! Raquel! Help me! Father! You are such an idiooooooooot!" Her cries faded when Zeke took her farther away from the throne room. Stella and her friends then give chase after a few minutes of stun silence. As her friends went after their winged friends, Stella stops and hears the King and his advisers talking among themselves when she was outside the door and eavesdrop on the conversation.
"Maybe I was being too rough on her…She probably hates me now…." Stella guesses this must be Nina's father.
"Of course not, your highness. It's just that your method is a little too forceful….." Stella recognized the voice as Professor Gaist.
"Forceful? But if the cold wave now is the work of that clan…..that Ice Dragon Clan…Will I just sit here and watch my daughter getting killed?"
Stella has heard enough and she quickly went after her friends, whom she managed to catch up with. By the time, they all arrived at Nina's room, they saw Zeke and a guard locking her door up.
"Hey Zeke! What's going on? Why did the King want to shut his daughter in her room?" Bob immediately ask Zeke, who have a worried look on his face.
"Princess Nina wants to go to the Imperial Capital by herself when she heard it is near the origin of the cold wave. But the King wouldn't allow her to go and the princess is…..stubborn, so he had no choice but to do this."
"Imperial Capital? Wait, isn't that where Ryu is going about a week ago?" Miyako said it out loud and Stella knew the reason of Nina's commotion.
"That is correct. But His Majesty is worried for the princess's safety so he wouldn't let her go. It is the only way to stop her going." Zeke replied calmly.
Stella wanted to retort that but Robert managed to cover her mouth and smiled. "I see, I guess I could understand his concern for her. But you sure she wouldn't escape from her room?"
"We've already lock the windows and the door here, so she would have no choice but to stay here. If you excuse me, I have a duty to attend to." Zeke began to take his leave. After walking a few steps, he turns to them. "Please do not leave the castle at this time. It is too dangerous with that snowstorm outside.
"Thanks for your concern, Zeke." Robert smiled to Zeke, his hand still cover Stella's mouth. After Zeke left, he proceed to pull Stella away to the corridor, to the amusement of his three friends and the guard. Then Bob, Miyako and Raquel follow their companions to the corridor. Robert, making sure there is no one around them, proceeds to talk to Stella, hand still covers her mouth.
"All right, Stella. I know you are pissed off, but you won't help Nina if you start a ruckus here. So it is better to lay low and help Nina out of her room without alerting the whole army. I have an idea, but you must not shout when I released you, ok?" Robert seriously look at her, which Stella, surprised at his serious attitude, nodded her head, then he slowly uncover her mouth.
Without waiting for anyone to speak, Robert immediately takes charge and talk softly to his friends. "All right, before I start this, I have to ask all of you that if you guys are up to this. You can still drop out while you can." The others are surprised to say the least; they never see him so serious before, lest taking charge of a plan.
Then Stella raised her hand, determination can be found written on her face. "I'm going. Ryu and Nina have helped us a lot when we all came to this world, even though we were just strangers. So it's time for me to return the favor to her and save Ryu."
"Well, I'm in too. I understand how the king feels but I don't think locking her up is a good idea. Instead it could be an opposite effect of what he did, she could be more depressed than before if she could not help her friend in need." Bob summed up his reason.
"Besides, it is not good to keep lovers apart, especially in this dire time. I also want to repay them as well for their help, so reuniting them seems to be a good idea." Everyone looks at Raquel; slack jawed at her bluntness who smiled back innocently.
Then they all look intently at Miyako, who looks like she wanted to protest but dropped her head in resignation. "Oh great….why are you guys so reckless….Ah well! I am not going to back out of this. If not, who is going to watch over you guys if you are in trouble?" They smiled apologetically at Miyako then they all look at Robert.
"Okay then. Here's the plan and don't forget our gears and meet back here in five minutes……."
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It was mid-afternoon now, but the snowstorm outside make it looks like it is night all day.
The guard, who is standing guard at Nina's door, remains vigilant and cautious of his surrounding. Ever since the snowstorm starts this day, the general has declared that all troops to be on guard in case of anything happens. This guard understands the princess wants to help Ryu and he wanted to open the door to let her out, but he has orders from the King himself, so he has no choice at the matter.
Just then, he noticed a girl with long black cape approaching and she was carrying a basket of fruits with her. He relaxed when she got closer for better viewing.
"Miss Raquel, what brings you here at this hour?" The guard inquired.
"Well, as you can see, I am bringing some fruit for Nina to eat. Will you mind opening the door for me?" Raquel smiled innocently to the guard, who looks hesitant.
"I'm sorry, Miss Raquel. But I was instructed not to open the door in case Princess Nina might escape. If I do that they might punish me for it"
"I understand your position. But please just open the door and let me in for a while. Maybe I could talk some sense into her and make her give up. I'll do it real quick."
The guard thinks for a while, then sighed as he began to unlock the door. "All right, you win. Just be quick though, who knows when Zeke will be coming by."
But as he finished unlocking the door, Raquel put her hand on his shoulder and muttered a word "Stun!" and the guard just fainted on to the ground. Immediately, Stella, Miyako, Bob and Robert quickly came out from the corner of the corridor. Stella went to the door, while Robert, Raquel and Miyako stands guard and Bob carried the unconscious guard.
When Stella open the door slowly and looked in, she heard a gasp from her left and looked up, seeing Nina was holding a flower vase meant to drop on Stella's head.
"Stella? Oh by Ladon, I could have hit you! But why are you here?" Nina spoke after lowering the vase. "Hey, you called for help, remember?" She smiled to Nina, who immediately blushes. "I did, huh? Well thanks for helping me out…..Oh what happened to him?" Nina pointed to the unconscious guard that Bob just brought in and put him on the chair.
"Don't worry about him. I just put a spell on him; he'll wake up in a few minutes or so." Nina turns to see Raquel, Miyako and Robert at the door.
"Wow, princess…..looks like you already prepare for the journey after all." Robert spoke after he scrutiny Nina for a bit. Robert is right in his observation, Nina is not wearing her dress, but instead she now wears a pink body suit with pink boots and has long cape. Her rapier is worn on her belt.
"Thank you guys. But I don't want to get you involved in this….." Nina spoke softly but Stella cut her off. "We are already involved in this ever since we decide to bust you out. Besides you help us a lot, so it's our turn to help you save Ryu!"
"You guys coming too?" Nina looks astonished. "But…."
"Nina, remember I told you that if you had trouble, we will help you? Now is the time we honor that?" Stella smiled to her friend.
"Besides, letting a girl go alone on a journey is a serious no-no, so let us help." Robert winked to Nina as well.
"Thanks guys." Nina is glad to have such good friends by her side.
"All right….so how do we leave this castle? We can't exactly just leave through the front gate." Bob point out. "Any ideas, Robert?"
"I was hoping we could escape through a back door. But apparently security has been tightened. So we need a new escape route…." Robert begins thinking when Nina spoke out.
"I know a way out. There is a secret passage under the castle that goes through an underground maze. But first we need to head to the kitchen, that's where the entrance is."
"Talk about a secret entrance in a kitchen, wouldn't anyone see us there?" Miyako spoke with a hint of doubt.
"Who cares? We'll improvise when we get there, so let's go! Time is of essence here!" Stella grabs Nina and Robert out of the door, follow by Bob and Raquel. Miyako just shook her head in disbelief before leaving and closing the door behind her.
Time:Goddess Era 2520
Location:Township, Aspiara
Xing Long has just closed the front door of their home of which he and his friends had shared with Ryu and others. He is the first and only one to wake up in the early hours of the morning but he doesn't mind that since this is his custom to wake up early in the morning. Xing Long exhaled the pure and fresh air, which he believes consider rare in Terra where only countryside have these kind of air. It has been a week since they have arrived here in the world of Aspiara and settled down here in Township and Xing Long is thankful to Ryu and his friends' hospitality who gave them a place to live and was genuinely surprised to learn that these people are actually heroes who saved the world 3 months ago as they heard about Ryu and his friends' account.
Xing Long then began his daily routine by practicing his katana swings, which he always did in every normal day. Although it is just one week, the others have also done their daily routine as well. Take Jack for example, he has been practicing his skill on bo staff by sparring with Katt every morning, then went to chat with Bow and Ryu in the afternoon (sometimes they went fishing with little to big success). Selphie on the other hand has been chatting with everyone, particularly with Nina, Yua and Katt, which Xing Long presumes they must be talking about female stuff (which he thinks is none of his business). Diana has been reading books that she borrowed from Nina (amazingly the books are written in English in Aspiara too) and have discussed thing like magic with Nina. Then there was Zack, who has been acting weird since they arrived at Aspiara (or more precisely around Nina according to his observation). Sure, he is still himself like chatting happily with his friends and practicing his boomerang swords, but when Nina comes into the picture, he'll immediately become a shy guy and will listen to her talk even the topic does not interest him.
'This isn't like him…..he never acts like that in front of Diana and Raquel. Wonder if he had hit his head against a wall or something…' Xing Long thought to himself as he tried to find the logical reasons for his friend's unusual behavior. Then the heat of the sunlight broke his thoughts and look up to see the sun is up by an angle.
'So, it's already that time, huh? The others should be awake and prepare breakfast by now…' He sheathes his katana then proceeds to walk back to his home when he saw a figure walking towards him. When the man got more closer, Xing Long immediately recognize the man as one of the rangers they met in the guild when they came there to ask for help on searching for their missing friends.
"Excuse me, sir? Are Ranger Ryu and Bow at their home? I have an urgent message for them from the Guild Master himself." The ranger was panting when he was speaking, which Xing Long deduce the ranger must have ran all the way here. Nodding his head, Xing Long quickly led the ranger into the house.
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Ryu muttered a curse after he finished reading the letter and hand it to Bow, who later became wide eyed after reading it after a while. Everyone has gathered at the dining hall and was just having breakfast when Xing Long and a ranger walked into the room. After a few words with Ryu and Bow, the ranger gave the letter to them, then immediately bid everyone farewell before he left.
"Ryu? What's wrong? Did something happen?" Nina looked at Ryu with genuine concern. He smiled back to her, appreciating her concern then began addressing everyone in the room.
'Everyone, listen. Just now a letter from the Rangers Guild has just arrived and spoke a grave threat in the Highfort region and at the request of Queen Herfarann, all rangers will be dispatched to counter this threat and make sure the safety of civilians in the area."
Everyone was in a stun silence for a while, before broking into a full scale discussion between each other. Yua finally raised her hand to ask a question that everyone had in mind.
"So what is the threat?"
It was Bow who responded to her with a grim look.
"Undead."