"Well, if you're that sure of yourselves...prepare.", upon saying this Eald'narche swept back his grey coat and removed his feet from the ground to float a few inches in the air. Panicing,I hoisted Azura before me. I guess Tomo just couldn't help herself and decided to shoot off a round at the levitating kid. Her bullet seemed to ping off an invisible barrier surrounding him.
"Fools!", Eald'narche screamed and dove through the air toward our position, laughing the entire time. A few meters above our heads he stopped his downward fall and let loose a burst of tremendous energy. The invisible force threw each of us for a whirl. All I know was that it hurt like hell to be skidding across that hard floor at a pretty fair speed. When I finally came to a stop I opened my sore eyes to look at Eald'narche. He was still floating in the same spot where he had stopped. The bodies of my comrades were scattered about the white floor. Even the seemingly unstoppabe Soulforged was lying on the ground in obvious pain.
"If you all give up so easily, how do you expect to win?", Eald'narche smirked.
"I won't give up!", yelled Leslie, now standing on her own two wobbly legs.
"Oh, we have a fighter.", Eald'narche mocked.
It was hell trying to stand up, but I did manage to do it. "I won't give up either"
"Me neither!", said Yomi.
"Neither will I!", this time it was Tomo.
"I won't give up.", said Sakaki.
"Never.", muttered the Soulforged.
Eald'narche laughed. "Glad to know. Maybe I'll keep you around a bit longer, and kill you once the Zilart rule again!" He returned to his spot beside Kaorin and settled his feet upon the ground. "Now my sweet girl,", he kissed Kaorin's cheek, "open the seal"
Kaorin, her eyes still glazed over, fell to her knees robotically in the center of the glowing platform. The glow increased as a deep murmur of sound arose inside the room. A moment later a vastly bright shaft of pale blue light shot from the crystal, up through Kaorin, and out the ceiling of the room. Like hell.
"STOP IT! STOP IT NOW!", I screamed uncontrollably running towards the platform.
Eald'narche couldn't stop laughing. "It's too late! The seal to Tu'Lia has been broken once more! We shall not fail this time! This time we shall be glorified"
The light had grown too bright, the energy too strong. I fell to my knees, ears dripping blood from the incredible release of energy. Suddenly the light died and I was able to look once more. The light had faded and Eald'narche was standing beside the prone Kaorin on the platform.
"I have to take my key with me. I'll leave the remains of your friend Sess though, as a parting gift. I'll be waiting." ,with a smirk and a small flash of light him and Kaorin were gone. In there place was the cold corpse of our friend Sess. I really felt like crying now.
"NO! NOO!!", Leslie was inconsoleable as she bawled on the floor. Pounding her fist uselessly against the cermet and dripping large tears. "He...Sess can't be dead...I won't believe it"
I whispered consoling words in her ear as I helped her to her feet. She was wiping away her tears with a sniffle as we walked the catwalk to the middle platform where the others already were. The Soulforged placed her fingers against Sess' cold neck.
"Dead.", she stated and sat up.
"NO! NONONO!", Leslie wrenched herself from my grip and threw herself bodily over Sess' corpse. "I..I'll save him!", she stammered and began a series of arcane spells. Ten raise spells later nothing had occured save a few shiney lights. She recessed into uncontrolled sobbing. Yomi tried to console her with a hug and a few gentle words, but she would have nothing to do with it. She stood once more, eyes dripping.
"I know...", she said and stood on the edge of the platform, gazing down into the crystal abyss below.
"What...", Yomi began.
"No...",Sakaki whispered.
I had no idea, oh, dumb, dumb me. A moment later she let herself fall. There was nothing I could do. Nothing any of us could do. Ok, nothing any of the NORMAL people could do. Within a second one cerulean strand of pure energy wrapped around Leslie like a living ocean. Her body went limp as the Soulforged maneuvered the azure line so as to place Leslie's prone body safely on solid ground once more. As the power dissapated Yomi had beaten me to her side and was checking her vitals.
"She's asleep.", she said with a smile of gratitude towards the Soulforged.
"What do we do about Sess?", Tomo asked.
"Just bury him. Eald'narche took his soul to power the Chrysalis Core. Sess is gone and there's nothing you can do about it.", Azura said without much emotion.
"Allow me.", spoke the Soulforged.
"Umm..ok..", I agreed.
She knelt down beside the body and placed her gold-gauntleted right hand over his chest. Instantly, and for lack of a better word, azure light encompassed his Sess' corpse. Everyone simply looked in amazement as the light faded and the body was no more. Gone. Ka-poof.
Seeing our looks of confusion the Soulforged spoke up, "Incineration"
Yomi stood, her eyes glaring heavily, "He deserved a proper burial. He was our friend"
"It doesn't matter. His soul is now privvy to Eald'narche's power. That body could hardly be considered him.", Azura interrupted.
With one last glare, Yomi turned away, "We should get going"
"Yea, I'm hungry!", Tomo whined.
"I am also starving.", Sakaki said with a nod.
Yea, I was pretty unfed too. Poor us. "Hey, Hey, Leslie.", I said whilst slapping the face of the unconcious girl lightly. She seemed to be out for the count.
"Guess ya gotta carry her, Mr. Prior!", Tomo joked.
"Haha...why don't one of you carry her?", I said in retort.
Yomi and Tomo burst out laughing. "I'll carry her.", Sakaki said from behind me.
"Umm..", I turned my head to face her, "I was joking. Hehe"
Too late though. Sakaki already had Leslie over her shoulder and didn't seem to mind bearing the weight of her body ALLLLLL the way down the stairs and across the barren wastes of Qufim Island. Luckily, we were safe from the Gigas under the cover of the fallen darkness. After bumping into a few walls along the way, we returned to the bustling city of Jeuno.
Jeuno nightlife was in full swing. Music eminating from every lit bar and restaurant along the many streets of the metropolis. A bunch of beat up, dirty people including one girl carrying another unconcious girl didn't seem to be a strange sight to the various partygoers and night-fanatics we passed on the way to the closest inn. "Cat's Tail Inn" was what the sign said. Sakaki was the first one in the door. Even the extra weight of Leslie wouldn't stop her from entering an inn named after her favourite animal with the speed of a track star.
The warm aromas of cooking foods and the simple joy of comfortable light were the beast things I could have asked for at that moment in time. We approached the check-in counter looking like a bunch of burglers. A bunch of burglers with an unconcious woman.
"Room for...?", the stout man asked, obviously staring at poor Leslie.
"Six.", Sakaki said quickly.
"Umm..yea...two rooms for three is that ok?", the man said.
"It's fine.", Sakaki responded, looking nervous.
"Ok...here ya go.", the man said holding out two keys.
These were quickly snatched up by Sakaki's one free hand as she motioned for us to follow her upstairs. I flashed the man a cynical grin as he responded with a shrug. Up the stairs we went and entered into the room Sakaki had unlocked. The room was furnished with three comfy looking beds, a single lamp and a few gew-gaws to make the place look nice. It was clean and smelled good too. Like lemons.
Sakaki had desposited Leslie on the closest bed to the door and was already on her way out as we walked in. She pushed past me and walked down the stairs.
"I gotta...go to the bathroom.", I said and backed out of the room, leaving everyone else to make themselves at home. I was curious. Sakaki was acting a bit strange, but I had an idea why. I needed to make sure though...simply to slate my curiosity.
Clonking my way down the stairs and wandering into the main lobby I found Sakaki with the namesake of the inn. It was a cute blue-ish tabby with a striped coat and big oceanic eyes of brown. It was also latched solidly onto Sakaki's right hand.
"Oh, geez! Shoo! Bad kitty!", I said as I gave the feline a few nudges in order for it to detatch it's jaws from Sakaki's digits. The animal did finally let go and mewled as it retreated into the dining room. I held Sakaki's bloody hand tenderly.
"Crap, are you ok?", I asked. Blood was beading up from the four puncture wounds. Two on her palm and an identical pair on the back of her hand.
"I'm fine. It happens all the time.", she said, pulling her hand away gently.
"Umm..ok..", I responded.
"Is everyone upstairs still?", she asked.
"Um..yea.", I said.
"Good. Let's go back"
We ascended the staircase once more and entered the one room. Leslie was awake and talking with Tomo and Yomi. The Soulforged was leaning against the far wall, staring into space.
"I'm sorry Leslie that..", I began to apologize for some reason.
"Don't worry...They explained what happened.", she motioned to Tomo and Yomi. "It was my fault. I overreacted. All I can do now is promise to stop Lord Eald'narche. It's what Sess would have wanted"
"Well, then you better listen up.", came Azura's voice from the weapon slung at my side.
"I'm listening.", she said as we all glanced at the weapon attentively.
"First of all, it's just gonna get tougher from here on out. Tu'Lia is our next destination. It's my home. I can lead you around there, but I can't guarentee your safety. There's much danger. The seal there lies in the Celestial Nexus atop Ru'Avitau Shrine. After that seal I dunno what happens. That's where my knowledge breaks down. I had never even heard of Ra'Nau before Eald'narche mentioned it. If his plan now is the same as last time, it has certainly changed. He seems far more cruel and determined this time around. So, I'm just warning everyone that this'll not be easy in the least. And if you want your friend back safely we better not waste much time."
The Soulforged nodded, "I agree." This was followed by nods of approval from the rest of the crowd. "Ok, so we're in agreement. Tomorrow we head to Tu'Lia or whatever.", I said.
"YEA! Let's Get 'em!", Tomo shouted.
"We can only hope.", spoke Azura.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(anime happy face) hope you enjoyed it...
-peace-