Chapter 7
Short chapter, again! Sorry!!!
"What?" asked the Dark Lord.
"I am sorry to inform you on this," replied Chung. "Sen has escaped. But there is worse news other than that stupid boy,"
"What is it?" replied the Dark Lord, looking slightly irritated.
"Terisa," Chung said slowly. "Is indeed a user of the Heavenly Dragon Burst. However, activating her powers with the staff is not enough. You will need something else to magnify and use it for our purpose."
"And what might that be?" asked the Dark Lord.
"A sacred stone." replied Chung. "The Goddess's Sapphire. It is that of legend, but however, you can trace it through history. It can magnify the Heavenly Dragon Burst's power."
"Go on," said the Dark Lord. "Tell me how to use it. How to find it...?"
"Well, yes, that is the problem," said Chung nervously. "It is currently in the hands of a priestess that lives deep in the dungeon. People who have wandered that far in the dungeon have often become lost. No one has ever found their way out. Plus, this priestess is very strong; even if you do find her, she will never give you the stone and will probably kill you. She is blind, but that only gives her more power."
"I see. A priestess in the deep dungeon." the Dark Lord closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment. "I know. This is what we do. We will take the Master of Ellinia. Get Sen to come here. Use our secret agent. Let Sen find the Goddess's Sapphire at all costs. We will use Sen for our dirty work. He is powerful; he will get his hands on it. After he gets the stone, kill him. But for now, watch Sen's every move."
Chung just stared at him.
"What are you waiting for?" snarled the Dark Lord. "Get moving!"
"What?!" cried Iris in horror. "Master Grendel is missing...!?"
"Yes," replied Sen solemnly. "He... was not there. I cannot find him anywhere."
"No!" repeated Iris. She buried her face in her hands. "Master Grendel cannot be missing!"
"Sorry, Iris," said Sen. He trembled as he spoke. Though he only known the old great wizard for a few days, he had grown fond of the old man.
"And Derek?!" interrupted Joyce. "What happened to Derek?"
"He's gone too," said Sen lamely. "He... wasn't there, either."
"No!" shouted Joyce. "How can Derek be gone too? Someone must have abducted them! This can't be happening!"
After Sen had told Reina, she sat down on the couch looking pale and silent.
"Derek," she murmured, speaking the name of her first son over and over. "My dear Derek, where are you?"
After telling his friends, Sen told the broken town that Master Grendel had disappeared. The town replied in cries of anguish and horror. The hugged each other a wept.
"What now?" asked Sen. "Is there some kind of replacement person in case Grendel is gone?"
"Oh, yes, actually," replied Leo smugly. "There is."
A girl with dark silky black hair now sat in Grendel's place. She looked serious and solemn. Her piercing blue eyes sparkled with anger and fury as she was told that Grendel had been abducted.
"This is indeed a tragedy," she said in a loud clear voice. "This cannot countinue. Our dear Master has protected us from harm. We will now return the favor." The crowd cheered.
"Who is she?" asked Sen after she was done speaking.
"Oh, her?" said Iris with a sigh of admiration. "Oh, her. Her name is Rose. She's my complete idol! She's so awesome!"
"Mm," said Sen, not really paying attention to Iris.
"She's my girlfriend," said Leo proudly. Sen gawked at Leo, wondering how the hell this dumb person could get such a girl. Sen realized that his mouth must have been open and that his face expressed complete surprise, because Leo shot him a look that said plainly said Whatcha lookin at, bub?!
"Rose," said Sen with the air of authority. "I have a favor to ask of you."
"What is it?" she snapped. "I'm busy right now – organizing the party to find Master Grendel –!" at this point, her eyes blurred with tears from hearing her old Master's name – "... and the town is in complete ruin! Many people are left without homes...!"
"Okay, okay, sheesh, calm down," muttered Sen.
"Rose?" asked Leo, sitting down next to her. "I need to ask you something."
"What is it, Leo?" replied Rose sweetly.
"Sen and I have decided to find Grendel by ourselves." Leo blurted out. "Please let us go, Rose. This is something we have to do, and I have to get my brother back."
"By yourself!?" cried Rose, standing up and knocking her chair over. "No! I cannot allow that."
"Yes you can!" roared Leo with such ferocity that Rose stared at him in surprise. Somewhat hurt, she sat back down slowly. Leo clenched his fists until they turned white.
"Tell me why," she said softly.
"They..." Leo choked out. "They took my brother,"
"Derek," murmured Rose. "I see."
"They took our master, too. While I go save our Master, we will go find my brother also."
"Hmm," said Rose softly, as if speaking to herself. "But, it is not safe with you two alone."
"Yes, we will be safe!" replied Leo fiercely. "Sen is a hermit! I'm a chief bandit. We'll be fine."
"Hermit?" Rose said, her eyes turning to look at Sen for a few moments. After several minutes of awkward silence, Rose nodded. "I understand. You may go. Your mission starts tomorrow. June 18th is not far away."
"Thank you," Sen said curtly, walking out with Leo. Leo and Sen gave each other a look of solemn mutual agreement. They walked home in silence.
Sen felt himself being shook as Leo said, "Time to go!"
Sen woke up groggily and sat up slowly. Dawn was here.
"Time to go to Kerning," whispered Leo. Leo mentioned for Sen to follow him. Sen rubbed his eyes and yawned. He dressed and grabbed his backpack. The followed Leo outside.
They both took a breath of crisp morning air. They started to climb down the ropes of Ellinia.
They didn't stop walking for several hours. By the end of the fourth hour, Sen's legs were numb.
"Leo," croaked Sen in a hoarse voice. "Let's stop."
Leo stopped abruptly and stared at Sen. "No. We're almost there. One mile to go."
"Oh, fine." muttered Sen. He could almost smell the familiar fumes of Kerning.
About twenty minutes later, Kerning City came into view.
"The Master of the Night should be in front of Kerning," said Leo.
They stood there, silent. Sen watched his city with a pang of sadness in his heart. His old, once proud city was silent. The only sounds were the crows cawing. The people were brainwashed. They didn't move unless they were told to. Sen gazed at his city sadly.
A man in a black cloak suddenly appeared in front of them. He must have teleported or moved with amazing speed; they didn't see him there a few seconds earlier.
"Are you the Master of the Night?" said Leo with hatred in his voice.
"Yes," the dark figure in the cloak replied.
Sen stared at the figure. There was something familiar about his voice.
"If you want your Master Grendel back," he said. "You must get the Goddess's Sapphire. It is in a priestess's hands in the deep dungeon." The Master of the Night held up a picture of a blue stone, with a strange marking on it. He hid it back in his cloak. "You have one month to find it." he said.
"Give us our Master or we'll beat the shit out of you," snarled Leo.
"Not until you give us the stone," replied the Master of the Night. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have more important things to do." The Master of the Night turned around and began walking to Kerning.
"Where is my brother?" cried Leo, tears streaming down his face. "What have you done to him?"
The figure stopped walking. He paused.
Leo took this chance to run up to the Master of the Night and tore off his hood.
As the hood fell to the floor, his face was revealed. Sen couldn't breath; he couldn't believe that it was him. Leo stumbled back and fell on the ground. Little clouds of dirt flew up. Leo's face was clouded with hurt and surprise as he cried the Master of the Night's true name.
"Derek?!"
Uhm yah...
Sorry for those Derek fangirls...!!!
Well. Reviews please... not much to talk about in this chapter. It's rather short and stuff.
Thanks for all the support I've been getting! It really helps. :D Thank you, those who have been giving me critism. I listen to everything you say and every single review! I read every single one; they're my treasures. –sparkly eyes-
I never believed that this story would get this far as to Chapter Seven. (my old story never got finished; it only got to chapter eight.) I plan to keep on writing this story. It's gonna be a lot of fun. Thank you.