Disclaimer: This fic is intended for people who have already played the game, as I suck at detailed descriptions and imagery.
Chapter 4: Invading
Within moments after they were in their trance states, Felix, Isaac, and their comrades had become zombie-like. They moped around and stood at attention in front of Karst. Karst laughed and spoke:
"All of you, my dear servants, you must follow my every command. To begin, I order you, Felix-slave, to serve as my bodyguard, sofa, and as head-slave. Isaac-slave, you will be my maid, whipping boy, luggage carrier, carpet cleaner, busboy, gardener, repairman, backup bodyguard, ladder, stool, shield, and chimney sweeper. Piers-slave will be my waiter, butler, plumber, and cook. Garet-slave will be by backup bodyguard, jester, luggage carrier, battering ram, second whipping boy, clothes rack, and janitor. Jenna-slave will be my primary maid, and will also serve as a waitress. Mia-slave will be my secondary maid, and will be both a waitress and a nurse. I expect all six of you to obey me without question."
"Yes, mistress." They replied.
Agatio looked at Mia and Jenna, and began to drool... Karst glared at him: "They are my slaves, and the only authority you have over them is what I have given you. Don't even think about that!" Agatio bowed his head.
As Isaac, Felix, and Piers went to do their duties, and while Jenna and Mia went to work in cleaning the place, Garet stared at Karst and drooled. "She-slaves, is he always this perverted?" Karst sighed.
"Garet... Always... Pervert..." Mia groaned.
"Ah... Blast!" Karst pointed her scythe at Garet and set off a small explosion right in front of his face. Garet howled in pain and began to run all around the room. Karst snickered as Garet ran out of the room. "And go stand next to the door like a clothes rack, I might have visitors!" Karst yelled after him.
Karst grabbed more bottles of her potion. "Felix and Isaac slaves, I want you to come with me!" She yelled. Felix quickly appeared beside her, while she heard several banging noises, and Isaac finally emerged from the chimney. Karst smiled at his dirty body. "So, it's dirty up there, isn't it, chimney sweeper?"
"Yes, mistress, but Isaac will do what he can to please you."
"Good boy." Karst patted him on the head.
"Now, both of you, we're leaving." As Karst walked out the door, she took care to examine Garet, making sure that he stood straight and stiff, with arms outstretched, as a human clothes rack should.
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Ivan and Sheba were sitting at a small wooden table at a small street vendor's tent in Altin village. They were reading each other's minds, allowing them to brainstorm plans without having anyone else overhear them.
"Sheba, the problem with that idea is..." Ivan thought. Suddenly, both stopped casting mind read, for they felt like they were being watched.
Sheba looked behind Ivan's shoulder, and gasped. She grabbed the Atropos Rod and prepared herself.
Ivan turned around, and saw Saturos and Menardi!
Ivan grabbed the Kikuchimonji, and had his Lachesis Rule ready to cast a spell if he needed it. "You two... Get away from us, before I am forced to fight you!" Ivan readied himself.
The street vendor, fearing for his own life, ducked under the counter of his shop, and his customers all began to back away from the four of them.
"Ivan, you must understand..." Menardi began.
"Asura!" Ivan shouted. As the young blonde flew forward, Saturos yelled: "Guard!"
A reddish aura merged itself in front of Saturos into the shape of a shield. Ivan flew in for a slash, and a caped warrior with a scythe emerged to aid his attack. However, Saturos's spell was able to hold off the attack long enough for Menardi to cast "Ward." The two defensive spells combined to completely block Ivan's attack.
"What? How's this possible? Spark..." Ivan readied his Lachesis Rule.
"Wait, Ivan, stop! Saturos, Menardi, I see that you did not attack us. Thus, we will do the same. Ivan, you should stand down. Let's try to talk with them." Sheba spoke.
Ivan looked at Sheba, who nodded at him. Ivan slowly lowered his wand.
Saturos and Menardi lowered their hands. "Yes, now are you willing to talk?" Saturos asked.
The four of them pulled up chairs and sat down, while the street vendor and the other customers breathed sighs of relief.
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"Who are you? What are you doing here?!" Master Feh yelled aloud.
Karst, Isaac, and Felix had entered Feh's Tai-Chi academy, and had beaten several of his students. They poured the potion down the student's throats, and now, all the students were under Karst's control.
"Wise Master Feh, if you don't want to be reincarnated, I suggest that you show your wisdom by surrendering to me and drinking some of this potion. You will have your life spared, for we have no intention of actually hurting any of you, or the people of the city. All we want is to control this city so that we can use it as a base for us to conquer all of Weyward. I'm sure you understand me clearly." Karst smiled. (1)
Feizhi ran forward from behind her father. "You will not hurt my father. I know psyenergy. I will fight you!" She squealed.
"Isaac, get her." Karst laughed.
"Isaac?" Feizhi looked.
Sure enough, it was Isaac who stepped from behind Karst and raised the Gaia Blade at her.
"Isaac, why do you do this? Stay back, Isaac... Stay back..." Feizhi began to raise her hands.
Isaac moved in for the kill.
"Shine Plasma!" Feizhi yelled. Miraculously, three white lightening bolts flew down and electrified Isaac. Isaac was stunned for a second.
"Cure Well!" Felix shouted. Isaac was fully healed.
"Oh, no!" Feizhi began to step back. She had spent all this time perfecting her mastery of the small amount of psyenergy given to her by the psyenergy stone, and had achieved such a powerful spell, only to have its effects completely negated by Felix.
Isaac raised his sword: "Surrender, or die." He spoke in monotone.
Feizhi collapsed in front of her father. "I can't die... Ba ba, I'm sorry..." Feizhi closed her eyes and surrendered.
"What? Feizhi!" Feh gasped as Karst grabbed his daughter and poured the potion down her throat. "No! Why must Heaven do this to me? You will not get out of here! I will stop this here and now!" Feh shouted. (2)
"Try us." Karst laughed. All of Feh's students, his daughter, Isaac, and Felix readied themselves into a fighting position.
"A truly great warrior can down a legion of foes with his speed." Feh muttered a few lines from one of the scattered strategy books lying on the floor.
Feh darted in and out of the mass of students. With a single punch, he took down ten of them. "I do not want to hurt my own students, but if I must do so in order to stop evil, then I will." Feh sighed.
As the students closed in on their teacher, Feh used a series of kicks and punches, and brought them all down. Then, Karst ordered Feizhi to attack her father.
"Must... Serve... Karst!" Feizhi muttered as she cast "Plasma" on her father.
A white lightening bolt struck Master Feh, knocking him off guard. "What kind of power is this?" Feh gasped.
"Psyenergy. It is psyenergy. You might call it 'Ki.' But, no matter, our 'Ki' will obliterate your 'Chi.' Prepare to die, oh great master!" Karst yelled.
Isaac cast Stone Spire on Feh. But, Feh dodged the falling stalactites. "'Ki' may be very strong, but when you lack discipline, or true willpower, 'Chi' can overpower 'Ki.'" Feh laughed as he flew at Isaac with a flying side kick and knocked him down.
"What? How can this be? Felix, get him!" Karst yelled.
Felix closed in on Feh with the Cloud Brand. Feh, meanwhile, dodged Felix's thrusts and slashes.
As Felix cast "Grand Gaia" on Feh, Feh performed a perfect backwards somersault and completely avoided the explosion.
However, just when the Master landed, Karst yelled: "Supernova!"
Feh was caught in a series of explosions, and screamed.
"How... Dishonorable! Only a petty crook would attack one man with two men. You lack honor, or discipline. You have defeated me through treachery and evil..." Feh gasped.
"Ground." Isaac groaned. Feh was caught in a gravitational well, and was pinned to the ground. Karst stepped forward. As Feh accused Karst of treachery and pathetic foul play, Karst poured the potion down his throat.
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The city of Xian was in turmoil. Karst, Felix, Isaac, Master Feh, and Feizhi marched in formation against the Xianese police. Readying their broadswords, chain whips, battle axes, halberds, crossbows, and longbows, the Xianese police readied themselves for the onslaught. However, their strong warriors were no match for the adepts, nor could they stop the swift and skilled Master Feh. Many were downed, and were forced to drink the potion.
The broken ranks of their police scared the Xianese people. Realizing that resistance was futile, they were forced to give in. Karst gladly forced several hundred people to drink her potion, and, as Menardi predicted, she had an army of over 3,000 in less than three hours.
Gathering her growing mass of useable troops, Karst laughed: "There was a time when Prox was ignored by all, but now, now Prox shall be honored as the city of the Gods, for, I, Karst of Prox, shall conquer this world with my army of slaves, and none shall be able to stop me! Menardi, dear sister, your death was not in vain. In a few months, no one shall dare forget your name!"
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A huge mass of Xianese people were marching back and forth along the Silk Road. They were all equipped with short swords, and were ordered by Karst to patrol the area and make sure that no one could enter Xian and disturb Karst's 'recruitment' of soldiers.
The villagers of Altin warned each other of the situation, and soon, the innkeeper informed Ivan and the others about these patrols.
With this in mind, Saturos and Menardi tried to explain themselves to Ivan and Sheba. They told the two Jupiter adepts that they never wanted to hurt anyone, but they decided that the sacrifices made by a few to save Weyward was much better than the two of them only helping the people of Prox and leaving all others to die. They also told Ivan and Sheba that they had survived Venus Lighthouse because the builders of the lighthouse left air shafts to breathe through, and Saturos and Menardi, after using the blades of their weapons to break their fall, were able to slip through the air shafts and escape.
"So, if what you're saying is true, then you must be quite ashamed of what Karst is doing." Ivan muttered.
"Of course we are. Not only does Karst fail to help others, she does this to allow herself to gain power. Her methods are detestable, and, as older siblings and loyal citizens of Prox and Weyward, we must stop Karst before her actions start to take lives." Saturos replied.
After putting their differences aside, Menardi tried to get back to planning how to stop Karst:
"Now, see here, we know that Karst has a huge army, but based on what you're telling us, Karst would use the Inn as her main base. I bet that she won't let Isaac or the others go and join in the conquest of Weyward. Rather, she'd want them to stay behind and care for her while she sends one of her mind-controlled, skillful minions out to take over the world. Therefore, we'll have to focus on sneaking into her base and taking out Isaac, Felix, and the others. Once she's cornered, and beaten, I'm sure that Karst will be willing to accept terms." Menardi spoke.
Thus, the four of them emerged from Altin. Thankfully for them, it was night time, so Karst's watchmen would have problems seeing the four of them. Also, the watchmen would have even more problems because Ivan was using his brain.
"Guys, I have the Cloak Ball here. I was the one holding on to it the whole time when Felix and the rest of us traveled all the way to Xian. When Felix, Isaac, and the others were brainwashed, I still held on to the Ball. Now, we can use it to slip past Karst's guards and enter the Inn." Ivan smirked. The four of them disappeared without a trace, and slipped through the night.
In only half an hour, they were standing in front of the inn. The cloak ball still kept them hidden. Ivan and Sheba both used mind read, allowing all of them to read each other's thoughts. "This is the end... If we lose here, we'll be brainwashed, but if we succeed, Weyward is saved. Let's do this! We can save Weyward and end this madness!" Saturos passionately thought The four of them waited for one of Karst's guards to emerge from the Inn with new orders. Once the door was open, the four of them rushed in, and prepared themselves for the ultimate confrontation!
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(1) Yes, Karst is undergoing generic evil plan # 369578261, also known as taking over the world.
(2) Ba Ba is Mandarin for "father." (Informally.) Heaven is often referred to in Chinese philosophy and literature, as well as 'scholarly speech.' (I happen to Chinese American, in case you're wondering why I know these things.)