FOREVER DESTINY : Ancient Era Arc 1
Before the Beginning
Episode 15:
"Battles of Will"
Story Focus: The Dekutan's Chosen
By Nekochan
Author's Note
IMPORTANT: I updated Chapter 14, the previous episode, so if you haven't reread it, I highly recommend doing so - the battle was improved, I promise! But thanks to the length of that battle in the previous episode and the intense amount of work that I put into what follows, it ended up needing it's own episode. However, I'm making progress! I am making progress toward the finale of this arc! So YAY! I guess Christmas Break is good for something after all. (laughs)
Arigatou Minasan! (Thanks everyone!)
Nekochan
(-)(-)(-)
3:30 AM Monday- Hell, G'gonstrm May 9th- 981 D.A.
The weight of Kokuen-oh's words hung in the air. They realized that they did in fact have a lot to do. Out of the short silence that followed, there was an intense ringing that startled everyone. It turned out to be the rings on Shedosh's staff.
"Shedosh, what is happening?" Acuashy demanded in a frightened voice.
"I- I think it means trouble-" Shedosh began, but then he heard the barely audible sound of rushing wind and knew that was out of place for being underground. "WATCH YOURSELVES!" he shouted and, after moving into the center of his companions, called upon his barrier-shield.
A split-second later, K'kedki saw and heard two bladed pole-arms hit the barrier near him, as did Kokuen who was directly across from K'kedki within the barrier.
"I heard you setting priorities and that is such a good practice to get into, but I believe you forgot one!"
Kokuen-oh's eyes narrowed and he pointed in the direction that he heard the voice. "It's Badamon!"
Badamon's form appeared out of the shadows looking as haughty as ever. "You forgot that you have to save yourselves first!"
"I knew there was a reason T'myra's possessor didn't care about fighting the rest of us - it knew you were nearby to back it up!" K'kedki shouted as he heard more weapons hit Shedosh's barrier near Najyana. He turned to his teammates and made sure they understood him, "Badamon's working for the Gizmutan!"
"And if I am?" Badamon chortled, "That barrier won't hold forever. Eventually . . . you'll have to fight us, or die trying!" And in that instant, Badamon seemed to grow even stronger; his dark blue aura flaring made that readily apparent. It was not the Rage of the Demidons, but obviously an ability inherited from the Half-Breed Mages and Mystics he must have drained.
K'kedki drew his swords and flew upwards, out of the barrier, then down at a charge towards Badamon. "No problem, I hate hiding anyway!" Anticipating some kind of blocking maneuver from Badamon, K'kedki held the Fervor Sword in his right hand back and prepared to pierce Badamon with his left.
Badamon didn't move, but K'kedki's first sword was deflected by Talpa wielding one very large sword and smirking wickedly.
Well, all this requires is a slight change of tactics, Saberstryke chuckled to himself and returned the smirk. Pushing off Talpa's greatsword, K'kedki flipped headfirst into the air and made to strike Badamon downward into the neck.
However, Badamon managed to roll back, keeping his eyes on Saberstryke. The Fervor sword then pierced Badamon's right shoulder in-between his shoulder-guard and neck, crippling that sword arm. Saberstryke landed with his right arm out and his left arm back, ready to defend against an attack from either Badamon or Talpa.
The rush of air returned to everyone's ears as a wave of sand shot up in a column all around Shedosh's barrier. The Sandstrikers cackled madly as the remaining Conduits stared out into the sand, seeing perhaps two dozen replicas of the Sandstrikers.
The Sandstrikers, K'kedki realized. Now how will the others make it out to help me? I guess I'm on my own . . .
"I did say 'us', didn't I?" Badamon laughed, holding his shoulder.
"Come on, Kokuen-oh!" R'rufu called. She took flight and burst through the sand, disoriented for a moment. Once she banked hard to the right, though, she managed to come around to the melee between Talpa, Badamon, and K'kedki. With Badamon's left shoulder exposed, she decided to aim her rapier there, but flying at the same time caused her aim to be slightly off and she spun around in the air, ready to come around again.
Kokuen-oh nodded, "I'm right behind you, Rafakoh!"
"Wait, Kokuen!" Sashyrary insisted, holding Kokuen-oh back. She quickly pecked him on the cheek and smiled at him. "For good luck; please be careful."
A warmth spread through Kokuen-oh's veins and he felt like he had the stamina and speed of his youth. "Thanks, Mysti," he replied as he smiled back at her, and followed after Rafakoh, charging through the sand on foot. He saw the four fighters off to his right and continued running that way.
The sound of running feet reminded Kokuen-oh that he still hadn't caught sight of Rafakoh's old crew-mates. Coming up behind him, he heard two of them shout, "You take the grounded one; I'll get the Captain."
Najyana and Acuashy looked around, hopelessly trying to catch a glimpse of one of their enemies to release their magic upon.
This will be the last time, Najyana promised herself. I refuse to let my friends defend me like I'm helpless any longer.
Acuashy decided that her best option would be to help Shedosh sustain the barrier in case any of her companions had to return. So, she moved next to Shedosh and placed her hands on his shoulders. "I believe in you, my dear Shedosh." As she said this, her pale magenta aura flared up around her and the same color began to enter the barrier's spectrum, looking very much like their Elemental Protection sphere had on the edge of Lebamenacuam.
Shedosh beamed at Acuashy, feeling her strength push the barrier out even wider than he had been holding it. "Thank you, Acua."
Najyana did a double-take, seeing Acuashy's aura flare like that. It never turned that color except when she cast her most powerful spells. It had shocked her at Lebamenacuam and it shocked her still. Noticing the ease with which Shedosh appeared to be maintaining the barrier-shield now, Najyana decided that Acuashy's tactic was probably the best course of action. After all, there was still sand everywhere; it sounded like the Sandstrikers had stumbled or something, but that didn't stop their sandstorm.
Shedosh watched as Najyana came over to him, placed her hands on top of Acuashy's, and began humming a tune that was just barely audible over the rushing winds. Her deep gray aura surged up and into the barrier. He once again noticed the barrier's radius increase, but he was sure that it was now twice the size it was originally. This time however, there were two very audible grunts and crashes to the ground, which Shedosh could only assume were the Sandstrikers. In fact, he saw the sands stop swirling, though the dust cloud was still everywhere, making it impossible to target any of their other enemies with spells.
Outside of the barrier, the others saw the barrier push outward, change color, and push the sand cloud upward. They too heard and saw the Sandstrikers tumble to the ground, not to mention the Sun Devil dance out of the way as the barrier hit him and forced him away from it a few feet.
R'rufu suddenly found Saranbo directly underneath of her and ready to attack with his bladed pole-arm, but Kokuen-oh didn't recognize the armored warrior that charged toward him with glaive set to charge, past the Sun Devil and Gnash.
"Weaklings, this one is mine!" The unknown warrior growled.
"We know that! We're back-up, remember?" Gnash hissed back.
"I apologize," Badamon chuckled sarcastically, "I forgot to introduce our newest ally: Dara!"
The figure indicated to be Dara bore a striking resemblance to Saranbo and Arago, because it too was in a full suit of armor complete with a helmet resembling Arago's and Saberstryke's. The room was so dark and the helmet's design so concealing that no one could view Dara's eyes save for two specks of light protruding from them. His lower body armor was bulkier than any of the others' as were the gauntlets that he wore.
I don't know this Dara; I'm positive that I've never seen him before in my life! Kokuen-oh thought,, warily looking Dara over.
Dara let loose with a series of slices with his glaive, growling through his garish mask. Kokuen-oh had a tough time keeping up; the last strike would have cut his head clean off if he hadn't parried the blow and ducked out of the way. As it was, the strike nicked his left shoulder.
Yet . . . I know this fighting style! Kokuen-oh insisted to himself.
R'rufu, on the other hand, was trying to figure out how to take on Saranbo - a halberd against a rapier. Not only that . . . this- this being had once been the right-hand man of her ship. As soon as that thought struck her, R'rufu's expression changed . . . and Saranbo looked pleased by that.
With a final slice, Saranbo managed to cut Rafakoh as she was trying to increase her height from the ground.
Slowly, R'rufu let her rapier slip from its readied stance, nearly dropping it to the ground below. "Rohkoh . . ."
Shedosh heard that. "Rafakoh, don't think like that! You have to fight, or we'll never get to save T'myra and Hariel!"
"Too late for that!" Badamon laughed and made a wild sweep with his sword, now being held in his left hand, in Saberstryke's direction. Not fully expecting it to hit anyway, Badamon backed up and let Talpa step between him and Saberstryke once more.
Talpa brought his sword up and brought it down with the force of both hands, but Saberstryke only grinned.
You can't keep playing the same maneuver and expect me to fall for it; that's basic combat tactics, there, my friend, K'kedki mused to himself as he brought one Fervor Sword up with his left hand, forcing Talpa's greatsword down to his own left side. K'kedki slammed his shoulder into Talpa's right, knocking Talpa aside and nearly off balance as K'kedki went for Badamon once again with his right sword. The sword connected with Badamon's right side, but left Badamon in front of Saberstryke and Talpa to his left. Heh, even if they surround me, I could fly out of their reach at a moment's notice.
The Sandstrikers managed to get to their feet at this time and immediately locked eye contact. Their forms began to shimmer as perhaps two dozen replicas of the Sandstrikers surrounded Shedosh's barrier. Each and every one of the figures began to attack the shield, some even throwing daggers at the still forms of Shedosh, Najyana, and Acuashy. However, the daggers only dropped to the ground after being consumed by any one of the three auras of the barrier.
Shedosh gave noticeable signs that the Sandstrikers attack was affecting his ability to keep the barrier up, despite the new strength granted to him by Acuashy and Najyana. However, one look at T'myra's pained face staring up at him from the ground and the reminder of Hariel's absence was more than enough to set him to bearing the strain. "Sashyrary! We could use your help! Anything is better than nothing at this point!"
"But how are they doing that?" Sashyrary demanded, a frightened look on her face as she stared out at the Sandstrikers attacking the barrier.
"I have no idea, I only know that it's working to keep all five of us protected and the Sandstrikers distracted!" Shedosh replied hurriedly.
Sashyrary's gaze went to Kokuen-oh, then to Saberstryke, and then to Rafakoh.
R'rufu noticed K'kedki focusing his efforts on Badamon and decided to abandon Saranbo for an enemy she knew she had no problem fighting. She found her aerial grace again and dodged Saranbo's new attempts to strike her as she flew away from him. She landed just behind Badamon with Kokuen-oh nearby on her left and thrust her rapier into Badamon's back. The blade met the resistance of armor, but Badamon's audible gasp of pain told Rafakoh she'd still managed to hit flesh.
Sashyrary's eyes returned to Shedosh as she stood up, a fire blazing in her eyes. She grabbed a flower and leaf from her belt pouches, crumbling two dried flowers in her hands as she did so. The leaf she stuck in her mouth and the flower she placed in her hair. The scent of it all filled her nostrils and Shedosh's too. Without a word, Sashyrary placed her hands on top of Najyana's and her dark sunset-peach aura flared outward, merging with the barrier.
Just as Shedosh's own light blue aura grew even brighter around the Ancient Staff, the barrier once again doubled in size. The 3rd wave of energy from the barrier was enough to send both Sandstrikers crashing into the walls of the cave, pinned between rock and the barrier's dome. It even knocked Sun Devil and Gnash off their feet.
Kokuen-oh couldn't believe his eyes when the multicolored shield engulfed his body and stopped just inches in front of his face. He was even more surprised when Dara came to strike him with his glaive again and the weapon merely glanced off of the barrier. Dara seemed equally as shocked and began to curse in G'gonn, making Kokuen-oh even more confused, since Kokuen-oh had only observed the Sandstrikers, of Badamon's converts, to be able to speak G'gonn.
With another glance, Kokuen-oh was able to determine that the barrier-shield now encompassed the entire 'room' except for a half-moon shape about 30 feet wide, which was where Rafakoh and Saberstryke were fighting Badamon. They're concentrating on Badamon! I have to help too!
So, with the barrier protecting his retreat from Dara, Kokuen-oh ran over next to Rafakoh and tried to slash Badamon's back, but met the same armor Rafakoh had. He couldn't tell if he'd done any damage to Badamon instead of the armor, but it looked like he'd done a fair job of knocking Badamon off-balance because Kokuen-oh saw him stumble forward before he regained his balance again.
"FOOLS! WHY DON'T YOU DO SOMETHING USEFUL LIKE DEFEND ME?" Badamon screeched at his minions. We had superior numbers and superior strength ... I had thought ... At this rate I have only one option left to me if I'm to make it out of this alive ...
Sun Devil and Gnash heard their master's order as they stood up, and so ran over to surround Saberstryke; Gnash behind him and Sun Devil to his right. Gnash tried to catch the Fervor Swords in his sais, but only managed to hit Saberstryke's wrists. Sun Devil, however, drew out a whip that crackled with dark energy and slammed it down at his own feet. The whip suddenly launched upwards at Saberstryke, wrapping around his neck and each of his feet.
What in Hell- K'kedki gasped, but suddenly felt the energy being drained from his body and he fell to his knees groaning in pain, yet managed to hold onto his Fervor Swords.
Sun Devil cackled maniacally as Badamon praised them. "Yes! KILL THEM ALL!"
Acuashy and Sashyrary looked at Najyana, so Shedosh did too, despite being confused by the nonverbal command they were giving her.
Najyana nodded and closed her eyes, the humming became a song that was heard by all even above the sounds of combat. At first she sung in Mycuajan, but it suddenly shifted into Sahngellian, due to Shedosh's spell he was still maintaining on all three of the girls.
"(The
heart is a warrior and it's armor is love...)"
"The
winds of change appear and envelop us all...
The heart of a
warrior is fierce and love will be your armor...
All that we can
do is look out and bear it...
Love is a mystery...
But together
we can survive it all,
Only one thing can stop us:
A Lonely
Heart!"
Shedosh, Kokuen-oh, K'kedki, and R'rufu were completely in awe of Najyana's piercing words and found that the lyrics filled them with a kind of inner power they'd never known before. It was tiny at first, contained completely within their hearts, but it spread through their body and gave them renewed energy to continue fighting.
Acuashy and Sashyrary smiled and Najyana looked pleased with herself despite her eyes being closed in concentration.
Note to self: Ask about that spell later, Shedosh told himself.
Najyana's song didn't seem to distract Badamon's minions, because Dara and Saranbo both continued after their quarry.
"+You cannot escape me, Ch'tsu K'kbo. I will not allow it,+" Dara growled out behind his mask.
Kokuen-oh's eyes bulged. "+How did you . . . That's impossible! You- AH!+"
It was then that Dara's glaive struck Kokuen-oh in his left arm, cutting a wide gash down it. Instinctively, Kokuen-oh reached over with his right hand, dropping his sword, and making himself prone to Dara's follow-up; the blunt end of his glaive came up and knocked Kokuen-oh in his jaw.
Saranbo drew his halberd back and swung it hard into Rafakoh. "Die, Captain!"
Even as R'rufu reeled backwards onto the ground, watching her own blood fly out from the wound and dripping down the glaive's blade, she knew that it was only her leather chestpiece that had prevented her from being cleaved in two. She met K'kedki's gaze before her eyes closed. Please let us win . . .
With renewed hope, Badamon continued to slash at Saberstryke with his sword. Despite only hitting armor, Badamon knew that was enough to cause even minor bruising.
Talpa gripped his greatsword for a slash upward and grinned as Saberstryke's shoulder-guard went flying, exposing a new and deep cut. "What's wrong, Demidon?" Talpa laughed as he held the greatsword up and thrust the pommel against K'kedki's head, "What happened to that overwhelming display of power that killed F'frvir? HUH?"
K'kedki knew it was now or never; Kokuen-oh was too inexperienced to keep fighting and R'rufu was badly injured. Shedosh had done a magnificent job of protecting his charges, but right now K'kedki had four opponents to deal with and he hadn't counted on one of them having a whip; that would prevent him from flying away. He could taste the blood in his mouth from Talpa's blow.
K'kedki closed his eyes and let his intuition guide him, which seemed to be even more focused as Najyana's song filtered into his consciousness. He Raged with a furious scream and slammed the two ends of his Fervor Swords together; he was surprised to feel them become rigid, figuring they could probably be wielded as one weapon at this moment. He also felt an extreme heat burst forth from the swords, but it didn't burn him.
The Lord Saberstryke stood up, shaking off the pain from the energy-draining whip and his numerous wounds. His golden-orange aura was dancing all around him and he re-gripped the swords. In one fluid motion, he swung the swords all around him in a clockwise motion and caused deep abdomen cuts in each of his four enemies, the flesh burned and scarred from the flames blazing on the Fervor Swords. He spun around again and again until finally he finished the move on Badamon with a reverse slice from his left shoulder to his right thigh.
Even K'kedki was surprised. How- How . . . these swords have a mind of their own . . .
Try as they might, the Sandstrikers couldn't move from their pinned position against the rock-face. So, they melded into the stone and quietly retreated, hoping that Badamon would not notice, since he appeared to have his hands full already.
R'rufu coughed and gasped, surprised to still be conscious. She knew that from where she'd fallen, the barrier must have been only a foot or two behind her. So, she tried to crawl backwards towards the shield, dodging Saranbo's high swings, but it proved too difficult for her in her weakened condition. "Kokuen-oh... help..." she pleaded.
Sashyrary too saw R'rufu trying to move towards the barrier and called to Kokuen-oh as well, holding the leaf in her cheek, "Kokuen! Bring Rafakoh into the shield!"
Seeing how K'kedki had regained his ground, Kokuen-oh obliged, ducking low enough to miss the wild swings of Dara's glaive and Saranbo's halberd. He pulled Rafakoh by her shoulders with all the strength he could muster, muttering under his breath an apology when he heard her hiss and grunt as he drug her on the ground. Sweating profusely, he turned around to head back to battle.
"Thank-you . . ." R'rufu managed to say, catching Kokuen-oh's attention once more, and indicated with her head for him to return to the fray.
Kokuen-oh picked up her rapier with his right hand, bloody from his own wounds. He gripped it tight and smiled back at her. "No problem."
Sun Devil and Gnash saw Kokuen-oh returning. Sun Devil continued to tug on his whip, trying to restrain Saberstryke or at least impede his movement, while Gnash's swords continued to glance off of Saberstryke's armor.
Gnash saw Badamon's condition better than Badamon himself did. "Badamon, sir, you must retreat! We'll cover you!" And then get ourselves out of this damned losing battle!
"You're in grave condition, sir! Surely-"
"NO!" Badamon cursed furiously.
Acuashy whispered to Shedosh, "Friends Najyana and Sashyrary and I cannot bear this burden much longer, Shedosh."
Shedosh nodded. "You may not have to, Acua."
"Sir?" Saranbo asked of Badamon, halting his attack.
Dara too looked to Badamon.
Badamon glanced at Saberstryke.
"+If you retreat now,+" K'kedki warned, "+No force on Cheakir will save you- or him,+" K'kedki indicated to Talpa, "+From my wrath ... for what you have done and what you surely will do after you retreat.+"
Grimacing with bared teeth, Badamon unfurled his wings and threw his arms out to either side. He spoke in a tongue that reminded them of G'gonn, but it was harsher and slower, more drawn out. "D'no G'zmut, s'rna n'in d'ka k'rak k'mnar p'me p'mop . . ." ("+"Great Gizmutan, return me, my men - your circle; we become stronger - fight again!"+")
The creeping black shadow that had emerged around T'myra in that very same cavern consumed Badamon and his minions. While Saranbo and Dara guarded Badamon, Gnash and Sun Devil backed away from Saberstryke. However, over Badamon's chanting, Talpa could be heard screaming as he tried to jab at Saberstryke one more time.
"+No! BADAMON!+" Talpa swung his greatsword high above his head, but the shadow was already all over his body, making him look more like a black cloud in a humanoid shape.
So, K'kedki rose to meet Talpa's misting form and roared in face, "+COWARDS!+" The shadowy mist in the form of a greatsword came down on K'kedki without harming him and K'kedki's scream dispersed what remained of Talpa's head. Badamon and his minions had escaped; all that was left was some black mist curling at their feet.
Shedosh and the three girls sighed as their barrier dispersed. Acuashy ran over to R'rufu and began to bind her wounds with cloth and magic.
Kokuen-oh looked over at his fellow Conduit. "Saberstryke?"
K'kedki collapsed to one knee and looked at his companions, "Well everyone, I guess we won this round."
(-)
3:35 AM Monday- Hell's Core, Hell, G'gonstrm May 9th- 981 D.A.
Hariel had been following the glowing ball of darkness through innumerable splits in the cavernous corridors and he now had absolutely no idea where he was. All he knew was that with each step he got more and more uneasy, not to mention it was getting harder for him to breathe. When he had finally entered another chamber about as big as the one he'd left his friends in, the orb stopped in the middle of the room. It suddenly disappeared and a very tall humanoid figure appeared in its place, now shrouded in the darkness.
"Welcome, Chosen of the Dekutan," the figure chortled. "I am K'rant."
The sound of churning rocks was accompanied by a glow by which Hariel could barely see.
In his childhood, Hariel had envisioned what the Demidons looked like, which he knew now to be false, but this creature seemed to embody everything he'd ever thought of the Demidons and their homeland; this truly was a Gizmu that stood before him.
Then Hariel noticed that a great stone table had emerged where the sound had been coming from; it was about half of Hariel's height and was made of solid stone, meaning it had no legs, yet it did have four 'horns' that jutted up from each corner of the table. In addition, he could now tell that he was standing on a raised circle, which was surrounded by another raised circle, and another. There were markings all over the floor the likes of which he had never before seen. Only a few were on the cavern's floor near the base of the raised stone structure, but they were closer together on the lowest circular step, even closer on the next highest step, and they were everywhere on the platform he now stood on. The table was almost completely black due to all of the markings carved into it.
"Tell me what I have to do," Hariel spoke as bravely as he could manage. The sooner I find out, the sooner I can figure out how to sabotage this.
K'rant merely raised his right hand towards the table. "You must sit there and take my bonds as your own. I will say, 'Accept my Rune of . . .' something and you will respond with, 'I accept the Rune of . . .' whatever I just said 'and release you from it's power.' Lucky for you, surges of the Dekutan's power don't hurt you . . . unlike me."
Hariel looked confused. "What does that mean?"
K'rant smirked. "It means that you could easily have Runes on your body and walk out of these caverns with no problem. Now, shall we begin?"
There's no way to mess that up . . . just great. "Is that all? It sounds to me like you could've gotten anyone- AH!"
Four figures that resembled K'rant but had very short horns and tails with a single Rune on their forehead suddenly appeared. They leapt from the darkness and grabbed Hariel then drug him to the table. He kicked and screamed, but it was no good; each of them were probably twice as strong as he was. They wrapped long strips of dingy cloth around each of his wrists and ankles then tied the other ends to the four horns at the corners of the table.
K'rant slowly walked over to the table as the four Gizmu scuttled away, chattering happily. "Hariel, Chosen of the Dekutan; you should have known that there would be a reason it had to be you." He brought one hand up and moved it in the air, tracing the contours of Hariel's armor. "It's not so much you, you see; it's this wonderful armor of yours . . . and your word is your bond. The thing is that you can't release just me; the Ceremony requires you to take all of our Runes to truly free us, but you were so very kind enough to promise me-"
"And what if I just don't take part in your little Ceremony?" Hariel snarled.
K'rant laughed heartily as more figures appeared in the darkness all around him. "I'd like to see you try and break your word. We'll see how long you stand up to the consequences of breaking an oath to the Gizmutan, especially where the Ceremony is involved. We'll begin as soon as the rest of my brethren are gathered. Until then, try to get used to the idea of accepting Our Runes."
With that, K'rant faded into the shadows, leaving Hariel to watch helplessly as one Gizmutan after another - some with wings - appeared on the lowermost platform. He didn't even bother counting them; he knew it would only make him feel worse.
I guess all that's left to do is figure out how to withstand 'the consequences' without endangering everyone else, Hariel grumbled. He tugged on his bonds; there was no way he was getting out of this alive, of that he was certain, but he'd do his best to go down fighting.
(-)
3:38 AM Monday- Hell, G'gonstrm May 9th- 981 D.A.
"+Sir, I really think that-+" Arago tried again, but Badamon slashed out at him again with his bad arm before wincing in pain and recoiling.
Clutching his right arm with his left, Badamon glared at Arago. "+For the last TIME, you are NOT going back to take on the Traitor Lord one-on-one, you ARE staying here, and if you even THINK of disobeying me, it'll be the Gizmutan you'll answer to and ME only AFTER them, if there's anything left of you!+"
Arago gripped his sword so hard it started to shake. "+I refuse to just sit here and wait for the fight to come to us, because it will come back to us, and you know it, Badamon.+"
"+You're right,+" Badamon growled out. "+You shouldn't just sit here . . . You should go sit by the blasted Artifact and guard it with the others . . . I'm going to have to report to the Gizmutan and hopefully they have a way to heal my arm . . ."
Arago wasn't sure he could have gotten any angrier, but it had happened. I've been relegated to guard duty!? What a pain! He stormed away with the other six behind him.
Badamon turned towards the Ceremony Chamber to speak with his masters before they dealt with Hariel, his face set in grim resolve. No matter what, this cannot possibly go well for me.
(-)
3:56 AM Monday- Hell, G'gonstrm May 9th- 981 D.A.
"+OWW! DAMNIT!+" R'rufu screeched, trying to recoil in pain, struggling against the hands holding her still.
"R'rufu, please-" "+You're lucky they don't know G'gonn! Just relax . . .+" Saberstryke insisted, speaking as softly as he could and holding R'rufu in his lap while Acuashy used Sashyrary's ointments on R'rufu's wounds.
"I have to make sure the ointment is all over your cuts or I can't use my spells to speed the process- do you want a scar?" Acuashy demanded, concentrating hard.
R'rufu looked abashed at making Acuashy resort to informal speech patterns. She clenched her teeth as the next surge of pain hit and gripped Saberstryke even harder around the waist. She was laying face-up in his lap while Acuashy sat in front of him, working at the deep gash across her chest while Najyana kept an eye on T'myra and Shedosh - the exhausted man had fallen asleep shortly after the battle.
Najyana bit her lip as she chuckled wryly and massaged her bruised stomach at the same time; she'd tried holding Rafakoh down while Acuashy did her ministrations, but the Captain's thrashing strength had proven too much for her to handle. After she got punched in the stomach was when the Lord had insisted he was the only one who could manage the task. It had been a blow to her pride and she protested for R'rufu's sake that it should be a woman, but K'kedki was determined to make sure Acuashy took care of R'rufu. She'd switched places with the Lord after that, relegated to watching over the two sleeping Conduits.
"+You know . . .+" R'rufu whispered, blushing furiously, "+I had honestly hoped that you would be seeing my bare chest under, well, different circumstances.+" Not that I mind all that much anyway - She braced herself again as Acuashy came at her again with the cloth dipped in the healing balm Sashyrary had prepared for her.
"+R'rufu! Now is not the time to be worrying about that!+" K'kedki responded, sounding extremely embarrassed as he tried to arrange R'rufu's wings into a more comfortable position ... at least, that was the excuse he gave himself so that he could rearrange his legs. "+I'm only doing this so you'll get better and be in fighting condition again - we're going to need you out there . . . +" he ran a glove along her cheek for a moment before gripping her arms again when she hissed in pain as Acuashy dabbed deeper into the wound.
Acuashy looked up at Saberstryke with curiosity before continuing her work, shaking her head. "I may not know what you are saying, Lord Saberstryke, but your help is appreciated nonetheless."
Saberstryke blushed a little before giving R'rufu a teasing look, "If someone could handle pain better -"
R'rufu glared at him and struggled, but didn't say anything. Instead, she gave up, simply pouting without looking at him.
"+I was kidding, you know that, right?+"
"+Why doncha' make me feel better then?+" She smirked up at him.
"+That's what I am doing, R'rufu!+"
Kokuen-oh was purposefully sitting away from all of that so as not to embarrass the Captain or himself, which also allowed him some quiet time alone to consult The Prophecy.
"Hey."
His train of thought was broken by Sashy's sudden presence and it made Kokuen-oh jump. "OH! Mysti . . ."
"I'm sorry . . ." Sashyrary hung her head as she sat down next to Kokuen-oh, "I didn't mean to scare you-"
"I was just concentrating really hard, that was all, Mysti," Kokuen-oh insisted.
Sashy smiled at the nickname. "So . . . what are you trying to figure out?"
Kokuen-oh turned his head to face her. "Well, for starters how you three girls managed to help out Shedosh like you did, but more importantly how to find T'myra's Artifact and wake her up." He gave a heavy sigh. "One problem I'm facing is that The Prophecy isn't telling me anything I don't already know!"
Sashyrary giggled. "Well . . . to tell you the truth, Kokuen . . . What the three of us did was one of the most basic principles of magic: Circle Augmentation or 'Group Magic' as it's also been dubbed. All you have to do is channel your spell power into another, already present effect instead of it's own spell effect. I guess you could call it a form of replication, to amplify the spell that's already there."
Kokuen-oh blinked a few times, then began turning the pages of The Prophecy before he finally came to the diagram of the five figures again. "Sashy . . . does this form - these positions . . . Does it look like that Group Magic thing?" He set the book down in his lap and looked up at her.
Sashyrary leaned over to look at the diagram, turning her head and squinting, deliberately taking her time to study the picture . . . and give Kokuen-oh a very embarrassing view.
"He- Here, Mysti, why don't you look at it right-side up?" He turned the book around and handed it to her, attempting and failing to hide the blush in his cheeks.
She pouted her lips, but took the book and sat back, looking at it even closer. "Well . . ." she began, "the hand positions are all identical . . . oh, except for their position in relation to their body . . . they all look evenly spaced between each other and the energies all emanate from and to the same place . . . oh, except these are all powered from different elemental sources! Tee hee! My aunt would be sooo proud of me right now, using all of my training-"
"But what does all that mean, Mysti?" Kokuen-oh asked.
Mysti sat up, still smiling. "It means that this could very well be a Circle Augmentation diagram, but it's very intricately set up so as to maximize the magical spell energy from each of its contributors."
I know I'm gonna regret this but . . . Kokuen-oh thought to himself. "Why would that matter?"
"Spells are very much like cooking recipes; you may need material components, you likely need to say specific words, you probably will have to perform some kind of hand-gesture, and you might even have to concentrate on the effect of the spell. Varying any of those ingredients produces a different effect.
"For certain Circle Augmentations, it's very important that every participant channel the exact same spell effect. For others, it's more advantageous for everyone to use different spells, be they different elemental types; different effects - like sleep, healing, or a fog; or different power levels. Each of those mixes will do something different.
"This setup is meant to take advantage of the different elemental energy types from each of the Circle participants. In addition, from the identical hand positions yet different placements, that must be what is helping to create that varied effect . . . or those are additional augmentations --"
"CUAMYJY HELP US!" Najyana laughed as she came sauntering over to where Kokuen-oh and Sashyrary were sitting. "I never thought I'd hear those words come out of Sashy's mouth!"
"That's mean, Najy," Sashy whimpered. "I'm not dumb, you know."
Najyana chuckled and replied, "I know you're not, dear Friend Sashyrary; you know I'm only teasing. I will admit though that I'm thoroughly impressed that you remembered so much about Circle Augmentation."
Sashyrary's frown broke into a wide grin.
"The only thing is . . . what does this certain ceremony do?" Najyana mused as she sat down. "May I see the diagram, please?"
"Sure thing." Sashy held the book out for Najyana to take and then shifted her weight onto her other leg, leaning very close to Kokuen, whose blush reappeared instantaneously.
Najyana ignored Sashy and addressed Kokuen. "Would you mind translating these words for me, Kokuen-oh?" She pointed to what looked like a sentence at the bottom of the diagram and one symbol near each of the five figures' heads before handing the book back to Kokuen-oh.
Kokuen-oh accepted the book and squinted down at the symbols. "Starting from the bottom-left-hand corner and working my way clockwise, the lower figures' symbols read, 'West', 'South', 'East', and 'North'. The symbol near the hovering figure reads 'Center'. The sentence reads, 'When Perception is misled, Sensation can renew its power with Discrimination followed by Effusion before Communication can occur, routing the abilities of all into Sensation for Perception's sake.' Najy, does that mean anything to you at all?"
But Najyana was not listening to him. She was deep in thought and was staring at the picture in the book. Suddenly, without moving, she called out in a loud, clear voice, "Acua, are you almost done?" The force of her voice startled Sashy and Kokuen greatly.
"Najy, Shedosh is trying to sleep!" Sashy hissed.
"He'll live," Najy curtly responded.
They heard footsteps and turned to see Acuashy sit down beside Najyana, looking more than a little disgruntled. "You need not have shouted, Friend Najyana."
"Sorry, but this is important. We need to talk about the possible meanings behind the instructions given here for some kind of ceremonial spell-" Najyana began.
"Excuse me?" Acuashy was absolutely perplexed.
Najyana pointed to Kokuen-oh's book. "That picture that Kokuen-oh showed us? It has clearly defined labels for 5 participants in a Group Magic spell, with instructions given below the figure. Since it's The Prophecy, we can only assume that it implies five of us as the participants and it's back to its cryptic forms of telling us who's who. Since Hariel isn't here to help us, the three of us, and Shedosh when he wakes up, need to figure that part out so we can perform the ceremonial spell."
"And what, praytell, do you think this ceremony is going to do?" Acuashy asked.
Najyana shrugged. "Maybe it'll wake up T'myra. Maybe it will help us locate her Artifact. Maybe both. Maybe it will help Hariel or help us find him. I really don't know, but if it's in that book then I think we need to do it."
Kokuen-oh looked a little stunned, but then nodded. "I have to agree with Najy there."
Acuashy sighed looked over at Sashyrary, who seemed more than a little apprehensive at the thought. "Okay. Kokuen-oh, you go watch T'myra and Shedosh for Najyana. Friends Najyana and Sashyrary and I will try to determine the purpose and method of this spell. If Shedosh wakes up, please ask him to come and speak with us."
Kokuen-oh handed the book to her and stood up, shaking Sashyrary's balance a little and smiling at Acuashy, "Will do, ma'am!"
Sashyrary pouted a little as Kokuen-oh turned to leave.
Kokuen-oh took one step before spinning around to lean down and peck Sashy on the cheek. "For good luck, Mysti." With that, he walked over to where T'myra and Shedosh were sleeping.
Najyana and Acuashy both grinned and snickered as Sashyrary dazedly touched her cheek with one hand, blushing profusely and mouth hanging open a little.
(-)
4:02 AM Monday- Hell, G'gonstrm May 9th- 981 D.A.
It got quiet all of a sudden . . . Hariel noted. The Gizmutan all seemed to be looking in the direction of an entrance that Hariel's feet were currently oriented towards. He could tell this only because a small orb of light had been hung in the air above his head. Hariel gave a small yawn, but was soon jolted back to his senses as he felt the approach of several beings with an immense amount of power. He watched as the Gizmu Kuhrant moved near the entrance and all of the other Gizmutan knelt where they'd been standing.
What occurred next, Hariel could only guess at, since the language that Kuhrant spoke in only bore a vague resemblance to G'gonn, which Hariel didn't even speak. He was able to gather that the Gizmutan entering the room had to be about the same rank as Kuhrant himself, but definitely higher than the Gizmutan on the ground.
There was a short, black female called Dihmree. A dark brown female called Nihkihndee was next. Ruhskahn, a burgundy-colored male came next. The brick-red-skinned Tihvdah followed him. Another male with aquamarine skin, called Nuhdehnz, entered. With great flourish, Kuhrant then announced the emergence of Ruhnast, a male with navy-blue skin. He caught only a flew glimpses, but Hariel assumed that all seven of these Gizmutan had at least one Rune on their body. Two by two, they lined up leading towards Hariel; Nuhdenz stood on Hariel's left with Tihvdah facing him, then Ruhskahn and Nihkihndee, but then Dihmree (who now was furthest from Hariel) stood next to Nihkihndee with no one facing her. Ruhnast actually walked right up to the edge of Hariel's table, smiled but said nothing, then turned around. Immediately, Ruhnast started to walk back in the direction he'd come from.
The room was silent again and Ruhnast took Kuhrant's place at the "doorway" and Kuhrant moved to stand across from Dihmree and beside Ruhskahn. Now all of the males were on Hariel's left and the females on Hariel's right, in the reverse order they'd entered, except for Ruhnast at the doorway.
Ruhnast too spoke in the strange other-tongue. However, before anyone entered, he also knelt near the entrance.
Hariel was fairly certain he heard "Guhkreht" and "Duhnoh Bihmah" as a Gizmata taller than even Ruhnast with deep purple skin and pale magenta hair entered carrying a tiny, green baby Gizmu. Her power impressed him greatly, though Hariel noted with a twinge of fear that she had many, many Runes on her body. It was nothing compared to the overwhelming surge of energy Hariel felt upon the entrance of "Duhnoh Zuhnmah", however, for he was a Gizmu even taller than the female had been before him, and a lot more physically developed. He too had multiple Runes marring his deep blue-black skin, partially covered by his long, pale cyan hair. The very sight of Duhnoh Zuhnmah brought back many of Hariel's nightmarish images of the Gizmutan, wondering if he hadn't been close to accurate after all. Hariel also realized that only the eight whose arrival had been announced plus Kuhrant had anything that resembled clothes on their body.
Duhnoh Bihmah had come to stand on Hariel's right side on the stairs just before the top level on which Hariel lay fastened to the table. Her face seemed to emanate concern and she hugged her baby close as Duhnoh Zuhnmah approached, Ruhnast in tow. Ruhnast's entire body seemed to glow for a moment in a deep teal aura the color of his eyes, then Duhnoh Zuhnmah also glowed, then Duhnoh Bihmah, then each of the other seven 'head' Gizmutan, as well as Hariel could perceive them to be, anyway.
"At long last, Chosen of the Dekutan, we meet," the voice of Duhnoh Zuhnmah reverberated in Hariel's ears in a deep pitch he hadn't known existed. "I understand that K'rant has already explained to you how this should progress. Shall we begin now? Your own endurance will determine how long this takes-"
A shout came from the back of the room, where the head Gizmutan had entered and Duhnoh Zuhnmah turned to listen.
Hariel cocked his head to the side and watched as Badamon, holding his right arm, approached a few feet in, bowed, and started speaking to the head Gizmutan. Badamon and the Gizmutan? How long has this been going on?
Duhnoh Zuhnmah growled angrily. He stalked towards Badamon, stopped on his way, and shouted towards the platform. The one called Ruhnast went to Duhnoh Zuhnmah at his beckoning and both left with Badamon. A shriek and roar could be heard simultaneously from the other room.
Hariel didn't like the sound of that, but at least he had another reprieve to think about his predicament.
The rest of the head Gizmutan began whispering adamantly before Duhnoh Bihmah shushed them. The others shifted back into their positions and, while restless, every Gizmutan in the room appeared willing to wait for Duhnoh Zuhnmah's return.
(-)(-)(-)
Continued in: The Weight of the World
12/21-29/2005
A bunch of thank-you's go out here. The reason that these battles didn't seem right to me is because I'm an avid Dungeons and Dragons v3.5 player and I'm used to everyone getting to do something, even if it is just standing still or saying something. With that in mind, I played out the battles like they would be in D&D and then had both battles reviewed by some other D&D players, since the only people who'd read the battles so far were other writers and not necessarily other people who are used to being in combat (no offense; I simply wanted a different viewpoint). So: my father (Loremaster), my other D&D acquaintances (TahnGoldenmane & Ganymede), my sister (NixiesOcean), and ESPECIALLY my brother, DJSpaceMonkey, THANK YOU for your time, your energy, and your WONDERFUL CRITIQUES! I had honestly thought that there should be some kind of reason Badamon and his goons would win, but no, we realized that certain characters coughcoughSABERSTRYKEcoughcough had just too much knowledge of combat tactics to let superior numbers stop him when Badamon is smart enough (and cowardly enough) to leave if he gets all the damage. And so, this 2nd battle got merged with what I thought would be a 3rd battle in the next (which became this) episode.
I think my Muse is hinting at something again, since almost every time I go to sleep I envision what's going to happen in the next chapter, particularly that 'final battle' scene. (smiley grin) I guess I'll have to do something about that, won't I?
12/27/2006
Okay, so college officially kills your ability to spend any free-time on vastly epic works of fiction and it is driving me insane because English: Creative Writing is not one of my majors in spite of my desires for otherwise. However, hopefully Cultural Anthropology will be able to give me new insight for future works of original fiction (such as an official rewrite of this story as non-fanfiction, something else distracting me from this fanfiction) and Japanese will keep me sane so that I may understand my favorite works of anime and manga better.
Of course, the other reason things are taking longer these days are 1) continuity is of paramount importance to me, both with my story and with the show and 2) this is wholly original and not part of my original storyline. I love this version very much, but it just TAKES longer, especially when I'm longing to write future episodes and introduce other characters, cannon and non-cannon alike.
I'm also trying to pace myself, making sure to fully tell the story in the way I want it to unfold, rather than bound by word limits - I should be able to say to myself, 'Just make another episode, it's OKAY if you do that!' But sometimes that's just so hard. Figuring out where to end - that's another hard thing, both scenes and episodes. For example, I realized that whatever comes next, two important events are going to happen pretty much simultaneously and cannot possibly fit into 700 words (what remains in my limit of this episode). Therefore, yet another episode before the finale. Oh well.
01/22/2007
I made a few minor changes to the plot here in preparation for the next episode. It was another one of those situations where I decided to pull something from the 'background' of the fic into the 'foreground'. That is, I decided to highlight something I had always seen as having happened, but didn't let the reader know that until much later on - similar to when Badamon snuck up on Rafakoh's three men on the Kahroh; I knew it had happened, but the reader didn't until the group met up with Badamon later. I also played up R'rufu and Saberstryke's exchange a little more, since it was so cute in the first place. Oh and in case you didn't notice, the 'song' that Najyana sings are not something I made up, but rather the translation of the lyrics to 'Lonely Heart', which, if memory serves, was the 2nd ending to the Yoroiden Samurai Troopers anime series.
Nekochan