Balacruf Resurrection

Clementine frowned. She and Mithos had made sure to let out all the torches inside, and she held a single torch to light their way. But, where were all the graves? Where were the skeletons? There's more to the mausaleum and she knew it. But how to get there...

"The Balacruf lineage were people of the wind...Perhaps there is one area that is ventilated, and it holds the key..." thought Clementine out loud.

"There is a room with five fans ahead," Mithos informed her. "Maybe we should check there."

"Fans? Princess Isis liked fans. She built them as a hobby. She wanted her city to float higher and higher, so that it would eventually touch the skies. She thought that fans would push it up and brush the heavens."

"Isis? It was a tough battle against her. She wanted to deem me worthy of forming a pact with Sylph. Her battle styles also incorporated fans..." said Mithos thoughtfully.

"Hah..." Clementine huffed in exhaustion. She led the way to the room with the fans and observed each one. Mithos didn't think there was a point, since all the fans did was open a way to the seal.

"This one. It's suspicious." Clementine pointed at the green fan in the corner. She touched the blades first, and then on a hunch felt at the base of the fan. There was a secret lever there, that was only possible to find with the sense of touch. She pushed it, and the blades of the fan fell apart. The fan split open, and a skeleton lay inside.

"This isn't a fan. It's a coffin," said Mithos in wonder. "Do you think the rest of them are like that?"

"Well...Clementine's confused. This skeleton doesn't have any jewels or anything. I think something's behind it."

"Alright then. A guard? I'll get rid of it." Mithos blasted it out of the way and grabbed the torch from Clementine. "HAHAHA! I know what you mean now. There's an immense power coming from here. Come on, Clementine."

Behind the guard was a dank passageway. It smelled like a mixture of blood and soil. It was dark and bones littered the walls. At the end of it was about five rows of six coffins each, and a sword in the middle of it.

"I must have that sword!" Mithos greedily grabbed the hilt of the sword and tugged on it. It was stuck into a slab of rock.

One of the coffins creaked open. Mithos grinned insanely. "Is the dead already walking?"

"That's creepy. Pull harder Mithos!" urged Clementine.

"I can already feel the power!" The sword was a quarter of the way out. But the more Mithos pulled it, the more the coffins creaked.

With a sudden burst of power, Mithos pulled out the sword. There was a flash, and every coffin door opened widely. Skeletons, some with rotten flesh hanging on the brittle bones, walked out. The sword glowed brightly amidst the darkness. A dark farm pushed itself from the ground and appeared before Mithos and Clementine.

"You, the legendary pactmaker of old. I have waited long for this moment. I am Ruler of the Afterlife, the spirit of Death. I am the final summon spirit, the most overlooked. Is it my turn to claim you? Or shall I lend my powers to you? What say you?" Death was very different from Shadow. It had taken the form of a man covered with blood, giving a most grotesque apearance. Many joints looked dislocated as if they were glued together sloppily.

"I am Mithos the Summoner. I want your strength. I demand to have your strength! I'm not afraid of you at all. I cheated you for 4000 years. I will be your master!" exclaimed Mithos, with a wild look on his eyes.

"Very well. We fight for it. What will hold the oath? In times of old, rings kept the pacts, but I have no ring."

"What's the sword for then?" interrupted Clementine.

"The sword controls the undead of Balacruf. It is filled with their souls, and is not worthy to hold the oath. The oath should be kept into something close to you."

"My oath is in Clementine then. I'll fight for her and win," said Mithos confidently.

"The girl? If she keeps our oath, then she'll cheat death as long as you. A crafty promise. However, this is like no other summon spirit battle you have ever faced. I will consume your souls if you lose. Are you ready?" asked Death.

"Yes I am. Clementine, stand aside! Let's begin! HAHAHA!" Mithos grinned. He didn't have so much fun in a while. It's been millenia since he had a one-on-one fight with a summon spirit. And this was supposed to be the strongest one of all.

Wings erupted from Mithos' back. He had a smirk on his face and started chanting a spell. Death also started a spell.

"Holy Lance!" The spell interrupted Death's. It didn't matter though. Death grabbed Mithos--a strange, cold feeling--and took energy directly from him.

"Pretty good!" said Mithos. "Haha. Retribution!"

The fight went on, with Mithos eventually grabbing the sword and hacking Death. It didn't have too much of an effect, but the way he wielded a sword overmatched anyone else.

It was a narrow victory, but Mithos won in a brilliant show of strength. Death yielded, admitting that Mithos was a worthy adversary.

"You're the only pactmaker that fights on his own, and you're the only pactmaker that has been able to beat me. It's no wonder you escaped my clutches for millenia, while sending countless to the afterlife before their time. The sword is yours, and as long as the girl is nearby, so is my power. Always satiate my hunger for death." The summon spirit disappeared back into the ground.

"Everyone's lives rest in my hands...Haha...hahahaha...HAHAHAHA!"

"So hurt though, Mithos! POW POW POW!" Clementine touched Mithos lightly so that all of his bruises would heal. Then she gasped and fell to her knees.

"Can you walk?" asked Mithos uncertainly.

Clementine struggled to get up. "Y-yeah, Clementine's fine..."

"Don't leave my side. We're getting out of here," said Mithos. He tried to teleport, but there seemed to be a seal surrounding the room that prevented just that from happening. The Balacruf undead surrounded them.

One of them, heavily laden with jewels and ornaments, held a small dagger with a bony hand and pointed it at them. "You may have made the pact, but we do not believe you are worthy of our services. If you can leave this place alive, we will lend you our powers."

"I'll just blow you to pieces then!" stated Mithos loudly.

"We cannot die or be destroyed. We will aways come back and haunt this world until someone frees us," explained another wealthy skeleton.

"How can you be freed?" asked Clementine.

"Perhaps the Goddess Martel herself can free us. A single healer such as yourself would have to help each of us individually."

The skeletons advanced on them. They all carried many weapons, and one of them gave a signal. All of them charged.

The ceiling was low, and Mithos flew and barely avoided getting hit by either the ceiling or the undead. Clementine had ducked and was chewing on the leg of one of the skeletons.

"Get away!" snapped Mithos, sinking back down to the floor and spreading light everywhere. Everything was blown away from him, and by now, Clementine was punctured in various places and bleeding terribly. She was also blown away, and crawled in the direction of the exit.

'Clementine! You can't heal in that condition. If you keep doing that, you're going to die! I, I don't want to see you go!'

'Clementine's sorry, Klein...You're not mad are you? Are you? Are you are you are--'

'This isn't a time for jokes! Just hold on, Clementine...I'll protect you.'

'But Klein, you're hurt! And Clementine can just do ONE more...'

'No you can't. Last time you didn't wake up for three days. What if you just don't wake up anymore at all?'

'Fine but watch out, you know? Clementine doesn't want to see you go either!'

Clementine huffed, and felt completely faint. "Can't...Klein'd never forgive Clementine..."

"HAHAHA! This is like target practice! What, getting up again? TAKE THAT! AND THAT! AND THAT! HAHAHA...HAHAHA! HAHAHAHA!" laughed Mithos, blowing random skeletons to the ground.

"Must take...one last note..." said Clementine tiredly. She reached into a pocket and with great effort pulled out the fountain pen and ink. She carefully wrote on her arm--"Takes great pleasure in attacking things."

"I'll blow you to smithereens! That'll show you undead humans! HOLY LANCE!" shouted Mithos.

But Mithos was getting tired out. He fought the undead one too many times. Soon they found an opening, and started to hack at him.

"Ugh! Pretty good..." Mithos frowned. In mere moments, he was brought down to his knees.

Clementine gasped. She was feigning death for a while and trying to regain some strength. She noticed that Mithos was down and catapulted herself at the skeletons. She was pushed away easily, but it gave Mithos the opening he needed. He grabbed Clementine and exited quickly. The undead didn't follow, as was their promise.