Chapter 5:

They all appeared in a large hall. Many familiar faces were along the altar at the front of the room. Yuber, Leknaat, Albert Silverberg, and a man who they assumed to be Hikusaak.

"Welcome," the man said slyly. "It's about time you all arived."

"Leknaat, what are you doing here?" Zerase asked.

"My job is to maintain order and balance in this world. It was Windy's job to disrupt it. In order for there to be complete balance in this world, the Ashen Future must come true. And in order to do that, Hikusaak must have all the True Runes."

"It was all my idea really," Albert Silverberg said evily. "Hikusaak came to me, asking my opinion on certain issues knowing how I assisted Luc. I was already knowledged about Hikusaak's plan because of Luc, and indeed got the rank I wanted. So I advised him to have all the True Runes come to him instead of looking to get all the True Runes. I came in contact with various Sindar experts, Killey, Lorelia, Zweig, and found out that they knew more about the Sindar than Hikusaak did. I collected information, studied history through the private Silverberg Library, went across the globe in the past three years collecting information, and finally came to the conclusion that all runes return to the Sindar leader. And by checking birth records, words of citizens, looking at wars in history, I came to the conclusion that Jeane was the most likely candidate to be the leader of the Sindar. So I summoned my old friend Yuber, and had Yuber come in contact with Luc and Leknaat with his Rune. Leknaat of course had her own agenda, but it was one that coincided with Hikusaak's. As the Gate Rune Keeper, it was her responsibility to look out for all the Runes. And that means, it was her responsibility to unite all the Runes again and prevent them from being destroyed. So I came up with the plan to have Leknaat visit all the True Rune bearers, and have them unite to come and fight Hikusaak. In this room right now we have 26 of the True Runes. It was also my idea to have Yuber stick around, because Pesmerga was bound to show up, which would make 27. Now, contrary to popular belief, I thought about the strength of the runes. And after talking with Leknaat, I deduced a new theory. That just because all the Runes were in the same vicinity of each other did not mean that they would all unite and the world would come to nothingness. I just deduced that nothing would actually happened until somebody destroyed all the Runes. And thanks to Luc, I had found out how to successfully destroy a True Rune. I brought this information to Hikusaak, in hopes that he could control all 27 True Runes without destroying them. Which would mean Harmonia would be the most dangerous and unconquerable civilization, with no enemies, only servants.

I had Hikusaak promise Armes that they could take Falena without a war, which changed Shula Vayla's mind about who he sided with. Shula gave Armes Falena, and Armes continued to move and conquer the republics. I also had a source who knew Nether Gate, and I promised that Harmonia would protect them and fund their drugs and science if they helped us. I also goaded Tinto in to helping take the Grasslands, and the Howling Voice Guild to be our personal assassins. I made sure that the I could get all the armies here, and then siege all of the other countries. I also knew that with all five armies here, Harmonia itself would not stand up, so I summoned my old friend Yuber to come and summon his own monsters to decimate the congregated armies. Once we got all the True Runes, we would have already occupied all the nations, and we would control all of the True Runes. It would be a sweeping victory."

"Leknaat, how could you?" A voice said from the darkness. A black knight stepped into the light. It was Pesmerga. "How can I serve you when you are siding with Windy. This is not order Leknaat, this chaos. And in this case, the end does not justify the means."

"Shuttup Pesmerga," Yuber hissed.

"No Yuber, you serve Windy, I serve Leknaat it's that simple. We both embody the sword and shield, and never before, have sword and shield come together and bind forces for anything. Leknaat, we are giving up the responsibility of the shield. How could you not tell me what you were doing? Hikusaak will now take your Rune away, and by doing that, he's taking the Shield away. Can't you see that?" Pesmerga reasoned.

"You're all so deluded, all of you," Yuber cackled. "You all love to think that this world revolves around the True Runes. I love it. All so deluded. The world is all about the Sword fighting the Shield, the Runes are just tools along the way to help the battle."

Yuber turned and looked at Hikusaak and said, "You think that this war is all about you and your quest to get the True Runes. It's not all about you, you're so much less than that."

"How dare you," Hikusaak said. "I am the bearer of the Circle Rune."

"Right," Yuber laughed. "How does the Circle Rune make you any more of a ruler than anybody else here? It's a True Rune. That's it. Do you want to see the real power?"

Yuber turned, and in the blink of an eye unsheathed his two swords and stabbed Hikusaak through the chest.

"Hiksuaak!" Leknaat cried.

Yuber laughed insanely, "You're all fools! You thought this was about the True Runes! You think the True Runes cause the Ashen Future? You're all wrong. It is the battle between Sword and Shield that causes the Ashen Future. It's the eternal fight that eventually destroys everything, the True Runes are simply our weapons for accomplishing this."

"Yuber, this is too much," Pesmerga replied.

"Wait, where do I fit into this?" Albert asked. "Yuber, what are you doing?"

"No Albert, you did everything perfectly. There's no question you're the smartest tactician ever. But what you have done, is unite the True Runes together. And allowed them to take sides. You have done well my friend. And for that, I'll let you live, for now."

"Take sides?" Hugo asked.

"That's right," Yuber replied. "The True Runes inside of you, all of you, take a certain side. The sword, or the shield. You can feel it coarsing through you, you just never knew what it meant. But this is what it has come down to. You must choose to fight with me and allow the Sword to conquer the Shield, or you must choose to fight with Pesmerga and have the Shield win the ultimate battle. I let Hikusaak's plan go through because now the entire world is in chaos, with no leader, with no boundaries, so there is no need to make new alliances. It is simple, there are two sides. The Sword and the Shield. I am Windy's servant, the true embodiement of the Sword, and Pesmerga is Leknaat's servant the true embodiement of the Shield. This is our purpose in the fate of the world, and you are all lucky enough to be a part of it! And when you join our side, the Stars of Destiny will have to choose sides, and with the Stars and Runes joining sides, eventually civilians will join sides in an epic battle! So now, everybody, look deep inside yourself, and say the word the True Rune is commanding you to say."

"Sword," Jowy said.

"Shield," Riou said.

"Sword," Hugo said.

"Shield," Futch said.

"Sword," Tir said.

"Shield" Sierra said.

"Sword," Lazlo said.

"Shield," Geddoe said.

"Sword," Freyjadour said.

"Shield," Chris said.

"Sword," Jeane said.

"Shield," Sasarai said.

"Sword," Louis said.

"Shield," Melville said.

"Shield," Edge said.

"And that's all there is to it," Yuber smiled. "You have chosen your sides."

"Wait, no I haven't!" Hugo cried. "I am not fighting Chris, and I am not siding with you!"

"No Hugo, you've picked sword. This goes beyond our feelings, this is fate," Chris replied calmly.

Hugo stood there dumbfounded. "Are you kidding? After all we've been through?!"

"No I'm not kidding. This is the battle that matters, and you can't let feelings get involved. Feelings will get you killed Hugo."

"Feelings are what make us human!"

"No Hugo, it's beyond that. We are no longer human, we're vessels for these runes. It makes sense doesn't it?" Jowy said.

"No Jowy, don't think like that, I don't want to fight again," Riou replied.

"This is madness," Geddoe interjected. "A rune tells us something and all of a sudden our lives are void? Don't believe your runes for a second."

"Then come to our side," Yuber smiled. "Do it, go against your Rune, and side with us."

"I will not. And not because of my rune but because I don't want to be on your side," Geddoe replied.

"No, you say that, but you know you don't like me because your rune does not like me."

"I'm sorry Lady Chris," Louis said sadly. "Are you really going to feel that way?""Yes Louis. This is what fate and destiny are. We all took on the responsibility of the runes to get to this. It's inevitable," Chris replied.

"No. Sword and Shield can fight if they want, there's no reason why we have to join them though," Nash spoke up. "Why do you all need to fight?"
"You wouldn't understand," Sierra said, touching Nash's hand. "It's something we feel, even though we don't want to."

"Well then, we'll chat later, but now, we must be off," Yuber smiled. And he teleported himself, Jowy, Hugo, Tir, Lazlo, Freyjadour, Jeane, and Louis out of the room.