-1Chapter 2 - Warderer
"No! Please!!" Frayja twisted within Mishaela's grip, trying his best to free himself.
"He's a silly little fat man, isn't he?" Mishaela giggled.
She had returned quickly with him, without breaking even a sweat, and decided she wouldn't harm him at all until he was back in Zeon's lair.
"So? He would suffice?" Zeon bellowed, sounding a bit agitated.
"Yes…" Mishaela still held him by the collar as he flailed viciously. "Exactly what I need. He'll do fine. Now all I need to do is…"
"NO!! PUT ME DOWN, PLEASE!!" Frayja screeched as Mishaela removed her other hand from within her robe, and brandished a small gleaming dagger.
"QUIET!" Zeon roared, louder than usual.
Frayja fell instantly silent.
"Now…" Mishaela lifted the dagger slowly to Frayja's throat. "Close your eyes, old friend."
"No…no, please. Let me go…" Frayja pleaded, his eyes now shut tight. "Please…"
She slit his throat ruthlessly, letting the blood drain from him as she held him in the air. He gasped for only a few moments, and then simply lay limp in her grasp. She dropped him carelessly.
"Now I just need a piece of Warderer…" Mishaela herself cringed at the name.
"I was prepared for this…Verdelet." Zeon hissed, and Verd appeared from the air, a gnarled blade in his hand.
"I'm quite sure this belonged to your old friend." Verd smiled, holding the sword in Mishaela's direction.
She snatched it angrily.
"Shut up." She hissed in return, and threw the blade to the ground near Frayja's lifeless body. "Friend indeed."
"Well, get to it then." Verd grinned.
Mishaela was steaming but she did not respond. She was doing her best to remember her temper, since she really wasn't in the place to be showing anger as a weakness. Kneeling slowly by Frayja's body, she lifted the rusted blade and thrust it deep into his stomach, splashing warm blood to the ground around him. Mishaela lifted her hands, and from them, a purple orb slowly manifested, growing slightly larger as she knelt there.
She took one hand from the orb, which still floated above her, and placed her other hand on the bloodied sword. From that, two separate lights appeared, one white, and one black, but both of them in the same orb, battling each other. It looked quite similar to a yin-yang symbol, the orb spinning and humming as she lifted it in her other hand.
"Good…" Zeon hissed. "Yes, bring him back."
Mishaela concentrated hard on Frayja's body, one hand holding the large purple globe of energy, the other grasping the swirling sphere of both light and darkness. Her eyes widened as she strained to concentrate, strained to keep herself from exploding as she put all her energy into her palms, clenched both orbs tightly, and finally, smashed them together.
The sight was spectacular. An explosion of light and color, but without sound. The blindingly bright colors lit the dismal chamber, and the miles of empty space above them became visible in a flash of rainbow streaks. But slowly, the color dimmed, and slid down the walls, creeping back to where it had originated.
Mishaela panted heavily, on her hands and knees, looking at the cold floor of the tower below her as the sweat dripped from her nose and chin. She was surprised she hadn't passed out. She did admit, though, it had been harder to revive Darksol that time so long ago. The difference being that, for Darksol, she was willing to give up her body and her soul. When she had brought him back and awoke somewhere distant, half her body destroyed and the other half maimed and horribly scarred, she was grateful that was all she had had to endure, and as could be seen now, she had recovered fully, though it had been a great many years since then.
She dared not to look up as the light dissipated. The great fat corpse of the Chancellor Frayja was gone, only blood remaining where his chubby body once laid. The sword, too, was gone, and the room finally returned to darkness, except for a very faint, dim light Mishaela could see just in her field of vision. It was coming from directly in front of her, and she knew the man stood before her. King Iom himself, the once powerful priest, Warderer.
Verdelet marveled, Zeon grinned, if ever he could grin with that great gaping snout of his. A young man stood there, long, billowing red robes surrounded him. His face was smooth, not sunken as it had been when he died. The revival had reduced his years as well as bringing him from the dead, and he was at least 25 years younger than he had been when he was slain by a great hero of the past.
"King Iom." Verdelet grinned excitedly. "It is a great honor."
Warderer stared into the darkness of the tower, seemingly dumbstruck. He did not move, he did not even let his eyes wander, as if he were just a shell of a man, no brain or innards. A statue. Then, finally, he blinked. Hard. His eyes turned slowly to the great mist like figure that was Zeon.
"I…uh…" Warderer's voice was almost as crisp as Verdelet's. "I…"
"Good to see you, Warderer. I've heard much of you since my sleep." Zeon bellowed. "I trust you realize who I am and where you are?"
"Not…" Warderer's eyes wondered to Verdelet, and then to a still gasping Mishaela. "Not completely. Not where I am. You…"
He grimaced, squinted, then shook his head slowly.
"I…Zeon…correct?" Warderer blinked hard again.
His brain was just getting it's first pumps of blood in many years of rotting stillness and decay. It was understandable that he was both shaken and confused.
"Indeed, I am Zeon." Zeon's eyes closed slightly. "And you, my friend, have just been resurrected. How do you feel?"
"Is this hell?" Warderer looked around again. "Zeon, you are dead. This must be hell…"
Verd chuckled heartily, and Zeon could have laughed as well.
"I do not die, your Majesty. And you are on Earth, trust me. This is not hell. I've seen much closer to hell than this old tower." Zeon's bellows made Warderer even more uneasy.
"Then where?" Warderer looked at Mishaela again. "Is that…? Tell me that's not who I think it is."
"An old friend of yours, I'd guess." Verd grinned again. "Say hello to your Master."
"My Master!? HA. I am King Iom, I have no Master." Warderer was obviously returning to his old senses rather quickly. "Especially not her. That is Mishaela, isn't it!?"
Warderer laughed heartily, and Verdelet was inclined to join him.
"You're lucky I was generous enough to waste my time bringing you back, you sorry heap! I would have left you to burn in hell if I knew you'd be so ungrateful!!" Mishaela's face twisted in anger, but slowly she cooled down as the last of her words were said.
"So it is you, you old bitch. It's been a long time, even before I died." Warderer finally stopped laughing, and his face tightened quite suddenly thereafter. "My, you look like shit! And you're so old now! You've truly grown into your profession."
Verd was almost on his back laughing at this point. Zeon was not as amused, but he didn't stop them. Mishaela was about to explode, but she didn't have the energy, so she could only let out an angry 'HA', and then turned her face back to the ground, still exhausted.
"She really brought me back…?" Warderer actually sounded surprised. "Why the hell? What's going on?"
He was suddenly very serious, and Verd had stopped laughing almost instantly.
"We require your assistance. The Devil King ordered your resurrection." Verd said, his eyes gleaming from within his cloak.
"And for what?" Warderer pressed. "As fitting as it were that I should live, why do you need me?"
"For what you do best. You brought Iom from the depths of the Earth many years ago. If you could unleash such a beast…" Verd smiled. "Surely you could help resurrect a Devil King just as easily."
"A Devil King…?" Warderer looked slightly puzzled, but maybe a bit more amused at the fact that his assistance was required. "Lucifer hasn't been seen for years. Who knows whether he's still alive or not. I cannot reanimate someone who may still be alive."
"Lucifer is alive somewhere…at least that is what we believe. But he is nothing compared to me…or Darksol even." Zeon bellowed. "No, the other Devil King."
"I just said I cannot reanimate an already living being. It just doesn't make sense!" Warderer snarled.
"Who says Darksol is alive?" Verd hissed. "You really have been dead a long time."
"That's…" Warderer frowned. "…Darksol would never get himself into a such a situation. He cannot die."
"I cannot die." Zeon growled. "Despite Darksol's power, he was not immortal."
"You're lying." Warderer hissed. "How long has it been since he passed!?"
"Over a hundred years, I'd guess. I think you were actually alive at the time of his passing, but word doesn't spread too fast among humans…" Zeon's eyes tightened. "But that is besides the point. You are the only one experienced enough to revive such a powerful soul."
Warderer grimaced. He was very confused at the moment, never mind groggy from his recent awakening. He couldn't recall what the afterlife had been like at all, but he was sure he remembered all the things that happened in his life, and he was sure he had died…
"I will not." Warderer decided. "I will not revive Darksol. I cannot. You overestimate me."
"You'd do best to change your mind immediately." Verd drew his sword and grinned.
"Hahaha!" Warderer grinned back. "You can't hurt me. I'm out of your league, kid."
Warderer drew and equally grand blade from the scabbard on his hip, and held it out in Verd's direction, grinning. It was quite sturdy looking and it gleamed brilliantly though the room was fairly dark, but Verd's eerie dark blade seemed much more powerful.
"Stop it." Zeon bellowed. "Verdelet."
Verd's eyes tightened and he sheathed his blade, and, soon after, vanished. He would follow his master's orders, but he wouldn't always enjoy doing so.
Warderer grinned and sheathed his blade, turning back to Zeon.
"Then I will take my leave." he said crisply. "Seeing as I cannot perform the rite you desire of me."
"You will not. Both you and Mishaela will work to revive Darksol, as you had Iom. You will be compensated, of course." Zeon growled.
"I require no need of gold." Warderer turned his back, his cloak rippling behind him.
"You misunderstand. I can grant you power." Zeon was becoming angry at this point, as bargaining was something his found both irritating and below him. "The kingdom just outside this tower is ruled by a feeble queen and no one else, as her king is in my possession. I can give you that kingdom."
"I will return to Iom." Warderer said simply.
"Iom is no more. Your death freed the country and there is no way to retrieve it." Mishaela finally spoke. "You're out of options. Zeon will kill you if you don't comply."
Mishaela wasn't so eager to help Zeon, but rather willing to do virtually anything to return Darksol to life. Warderer had stopped in his tracks now. He knew Zeon could kill him, but he was much more tame in comparison to Mishaela. He would not jeopardize his newly gained breaths of life. He turned back to Zeon, his face slightly pale.
"Mishaela will follow my orders, else I will not even attempt." He said quickly.
"Easily done." Zeon's eyes tightened again, while Mishaela gritted her teeth in anger.
"What!? I will not…!"
"You will work under Warderer without argument, lest you should forget how I can crush you without mercy." Zeon was, at this point, frustrated at how complex the task of reviving Darksol would be, and the arguments certainly weren't helpful to him.
Mishaela said nothing. She got to her feet slowly, still gritting her teeth, but not a sound escaped her lips.
"Now. What does the rite require?" Zeon said in a calmer voice, though he was still bellowing as he always did.
"Well assuming you have something of Darksol's, it will be quite easy. Not as difficult as Mishaela's, I'm sure." Warderer giggled as he looked over at Mishaela's reddening face. "And before we start this little ceremony…"
Zeon tried his best not to lash out and tell Warderer to shut up and get to work.
"Why, exactly, have you sunken so low as to require the need of greatest enemy back from the underworld?" Warderer asked. Mishaela perked up at this.
She hadn't really thought to ask that question again, seeing as Zeon had answered her cryptically the first time, she assumed he knew something she didn't. Maybe he would answer Warderer, though, if only to shut him up and get him working.
"I have my reasons…" Zeon seemed bent on keeping his reasons a secret, but Warderer wasn't as easy to avoid when it came to questioning as Mishaela.
"Tell me, lest I should change my mind for lack of motivation." Warderer demanded.
"You dare…!?" Zeon's eyes widened in anger.
"I do. If you really need me you won't kill me either." Warderer snapped. "Well?"
Zeon's eyes tightened again, and he hissed something under his breath.
"I need him to do something for me…it's quite a lengthy story…" Zeon's bellow was louder than usual, his rage near it's peak. "Darksol is one of my very greatest enemies. He helped seal my power away, and for that, I cannot ever forgive him."
"We both know the story, I'm sure." Warderer grinned. "Get on with it."
Zeon ignored this.
"I am quite easily the most powerful being on this planet. I could take what I want, when I want, as soon as I pull myself from this pit." Zeon growled. "And yet my power as of yet is not fully regained. I am unsealed, but it takes time for evil power to gather here. If I had the Jewel of Evil, though, I would become instantly as powerful as I had been the day I defeated Darksol and Lucifer."
Warderer grimaced. "You've yet to tell us anything we hadn't already known."
"I'm getting to that!!" Zeon erupted, shaking the walls of the tower around them. "You forget yourself in my presence, King Iom. I will remind you to whom you are speaking!"
A cascading, icy wind sprung from Zeon's gaping mouth, and was followed immediately by the ghostly image of thousands of hideously maimed heads flowing forward toward Warderer. The ghastly human like creatures, tortured and groaning with eternal agony, were shot forward instantly, and their icy images crashed into Warderer with heavy moans and clawing hands.
"AGH!" Warderer choked as the creatures disappeared around him, and as more flowed forward and knocked into him.
Mishaela's eyes began to slowly widen. The disgusting souls had started clawing and hitting Warderer with such force that his skin was beginning to crack and bleed in various places. Very suddenly, the barrage of ghouls ended, and Zeon's translucent head gaped at them, his eyes very wide. His good eye shook rapidly in it's socket, obviously showing how filled with rage he still was.
"Now! Warderer!" Zeon roared. "You will hold your tongue! You know I will not kill you, but you don't seem to understand that I will get what I want, regardless. I can torture you until the end of time, my good King! Do you wish it so!!?"
Zeon's mouth began to gape slowly wider, and from the depths of his throat the echoing sounds of moaning spirits came flowing out.
"NO!" Warderer was on his knees, his face bloodied and his cloths torn and shredded. "Please! No!"
"Mishaela!?" Zeon's eye lurched suddenly in her direction. "You should be glad I chose him as an example and not you!"
Mishaela gaped, but said nothing.
"Now." Zeon blinked one eye, obviously trying to control his anger. "Darksol and Lucifer created the Jewel of Darkness, and Volcanon created the Jewel of Light to keep it in check. It would take at least five years to regain my power fully here. It would take maybe two to allow me to come to the surface. I already have the power to kill Volcanon."
Neither Mishaela nor Warderer said anything, at risk of being instantly destroyed.
"No one seems to understand, though." Zeon growled. "That the power sealed in the Jewel of Darkness is mine. That does not mean that I am the only one who can utilize it. Anyone who knew how to control it's power could do so."
"Then why didn't Darksol!?" Mishaela yelped, suddenly realizing she may have just ended her own life.
"He did not know how." Zeon said calmly. "He was a powerful sorcerer, but he was smart enough to know that if he tried to use my power to make himself stronger, he would have destroyed his body. There are those, though, that are willing to experiment with it until they have my own power within their grasp. And then I would have quite a time getting it away from them, now wouldn't I?"
Warderer was panting heavily, his face smear with blood. Though he was revived in a younger form, he now looked to be maimed for the rest of his life.
"Now. I need Darksol because only he can destroy that jewel. Once I get it back and regain my powers, I'll need it destroyed, and then I will let you all be." Zeon bellowed.
Mishaela hesitated, but finally spoke in a low voice. "How can we believe that?"
"You don't have to." Zeon roared. "You'll do it regardless, now won't you? I have other reasons for wanting Darksol alive. Those reasons are my own, and revealing them would cause…problems."
Mishaela gulped, and Warderer continued to pant weakly.
"King Iom." Zeon's twitching eye turned back to the wounded Warderer. "Take Granseal. Make it yours. Kill Queen Elis and you shall rule in her stead. It won't be hard and you're clever. Go."
"That won't be necessary." A cold voice similar to Verd's echoed from somewhere within the tower.
"Byrl…?" Zeon scoffed. "You know better than to speak in front of guests."
"I killed Elis." Byrl's voice came from all around.
"You what!?" Zeon roared, shaking the tower heavily. "When!?"
"Just a while ago. She is dead. It was great, and I enjoyed it."
"I told you not to leave the tower!!"
"I get bored here, Master. You give me no errands to run like Verdelet. I am lonely." Byrl sounded hurt, but his voice was still quite cold an evil.
"I'll deal with you later." Zeon growled, turning his eye again to Warderer. "Then your task is made simple. I will send Mishaela and Verdelet to help you in your studies to revive Darksol later. For now, I want you to get the kingdom settled in."
Warderer gulped and stood weakly, turned, and, without a word, walked slowly into the corridor that led up and out of the cold, dark tower.
***
"You're basing this entire theory on an entry in a book, Orin." Vahn had been pleading for what seemed like hours now.
They had reached a small town just on the outskirts of a forest after two days of trekking across the open plains of Parmecia. Orin has since explained his thoughts on Verdelet and his possessed allies, as well as Astrals entry on Galam and possession. Vahn was skeptical, though the others seemed to think it made a good deal of sense.
"Listen." Orin was tired of arguing. "I'm not going to keep this up, and you're not changing my mind. Zeon is doing this. He has to be."
"Zeon's been sealed for years, Orin. The only way he could ever come back is if someone, somehow, got into Ground Seal and broke it. And only someone with the jewels could do that…" Vahn was tired of arguing, too, but he didn't want the entire group chasing invisible devils. "And even if it is Zeon, he's back in Arc Valley. We started out in the right place and we've come hundreds of miles in the wrong direction."
"No we haven't. We've come to exactly the right place."
"How?" Vahn now looked puzzled.
"We can't fight Zeon. I know my father did it, but he didn't do it alone." Orin explained. "He had a score of comrades, and he had Mitula and Volcanon."
Vahn's eyes widened. "We're going to see Volcanon!?"
"According to your mother, the concentration of devils on this continent is a lot larger than it is on Grans. That's one reason we're here." Orin said. "If this is true, then either Zeon is controlling them and we have to disperse them anyway, or they're working alone. Regardless, someone is leading them, and any possible ally of Zeon is a threat to us."
"Okay…" Vahn seemed defeated. "And what other reason are we here?"
"To see Volcanon. He'll know what's going on."
"So we are going to see him?" Vahn was still very surprised.
"Will he help us?" Keith looked somewhat skeptical.
"I don't know. I guess we'll see." Orin sighed.
"Are you sure about this, Orin?" Trevor asked, his face very serious.
"I don't have a choice."
