Keia, Vegance, and Cielto all touched down around me. Here, there was no ground, no world, no air, no sky… Only a solid black, yet I could still see as though we stood under a light. A pair of yellow eyes gleamed in the sky above us. A voice, Sen's voice, echoed around us.
"In my world, you play by my rules!" The eyes stepped out of the darkness in front of us. A large being towered over us. Its head was elongated and flat, like a triangle turned sideways on its side. The eyes attached to the edge of the head. The body was long and slender and led to a pair of muscular legs. The way the legs were, it appeared as though the creature were sitting. Another pair of legs sprouted from the body's underside and bent backwards, giving the creature four legs. Its arms were skinny and ended in giant sickle-blades.
"Okay, remember the statues?" I asked Vegance and Keia. They both nodded. "Fight it the same way."
"What do I do?" Cielto asked.
"Do what you can to stay alive," I said. "Distract it for us, if you can." Cielto nodded.
A third eye opened up on top of the creature's head. It rolled around in place, focused on us, and began to glow. Then, it released its energy in a beam. The four of us dodged in random directions. The beam struck the ground with enough force to cause a small explosion. I ran at the creature. It swung one of its sickle-blades at me. I jumped up on top of the sickle-blade and started up the creature's arm.
'This is normally Rona's job,' I thought. Keia fired arrows up at the creature's eyes. Many missed and others bounced off of the creature's armored head. I was climbing the creature's arm when Keia shouted something at me.
"Cryos, watch out!" I turned around to face her, but then looked around I confusion. I noticed the other arm swinging at me! In a split-second decision, I leapt up, grabbed the edge of the sickle-blade as it passed under me, and hanged on as it sliced through the creature's other arm. The other arm fell to the ground.
Cielto and Vegance climbed on the creature's legs as I flipped up onto its arm and climbed upwards. It swung randomly between its legs at Vegance and Cielto. I struggled to hold on until I reached the shoulder. I leapt from there onto the creature's head. Keia fired an arrow, missed the creature, and just barely missed me.
"Keia!" I shouted. She waved and continued firing arrows. The eye on top of the head rotated to face me, charged the beam and fired. With hardly enough time to move, I held my sword up in front of me. The beam struck my sword and threw it from my hands. I was knocked backwards as well. I slid along the creature's head and grabbed the edge of its head as I slipped off. I pulled myself back up slowly and without delay, rushed towards the eye. I used my gauntlet as a battering ram against the eye and thrust my arm through the outside. I heard a screeching noise as my arm delved deeper through the membrane. I pulled my arm back and repeated three more times. After the fourth time, my arm was covered in a green goo. The eye rolled around frantically, and then it became motionless. The creature flailed around, then dropped to its knees. It let out a final screech before it fell to the ground. I hopped from its head to join Keia. Cielto and Vegance crawled from underneath its legs and joined us as well.
"Job well done!" I said. "Is that the best he has?" The body of the creature flew up into the air.
"Heroes… Congrats," Sen's voice rang out. "But, how about this?" The creature's body began to pulsate and transform. The four legs split up into three legs on either side of the body. The remaining arm shifted to become two arms with pincers, one on either side of the body. The head folded back; one of the remaining eyes slid up onto the body's back while the other eye took a spot on the front of the head. The sickle-blade formed into a tail with a sting on the tip. Now, this creature looked like a giant scorpion.
"Oh, well, we need a distraction," I said quickly. "Someone to distract the front pincers so we can get around to the eye."
"I'll fire arrows at it," Keia said.
"Cielto and I will take care of the pincers," Vegance said.
"Then I'll deal with that eye," I said. I picked my sword up from off the ground and started circling the scorpion. Keia used the same strategy as she did with the first form and fired arrows at its front eye. Cielto and Vegance ran to the front of the scorpion and battled back its pincers. I got around to the side and climbed up on a leg. I pulled myself up onto the scorpion's body and approached the eye. The eye watched me as I moved around it. Suddenly, the tail came down at me.
"Whoa!" I rolled out of the way. The sickle-blade was close to hitting me, but just barely missed. I laid on my back and watched the tail go up and come down again. I rolled out of the way once more. Then, I looked to the eye and had an idea. I leapt up onto my feet and ran to the eye. The tail came down one last time, straight through the center of the scorpion's eye. I jumped backwards as the eye twitched and tried to turn. Out of confusion, the tail could not pull itself back out. The scorpion shook violently. I lost my footing and fell off of the body. The scorpion collapsed and spread out over the ground.
"Well, that was easier than the first," I said. "Is that all you've got, Sen?"
"Not quite." The scorpion flew into the air. The pincers drew back into the body. The six legs stretched out and became longer. The tail-end folded out in front of the body. The body folded over itself and formed into a ball shape. The last eye poked out over the top of the round body. The elongated legs fanned out around the body in the form of tentacles. The massive octopus-thing landed down in front of us and immediately started flailing its tentacles at us. The tentacle tipped with the sickle-blade landed just beside me. My first instinct was to leap on top of it as it was pulled back. I held on as the tentacle was slowly retracted. When I was brought to the octopus's body, I leapt off of the sickle-blade and onto another tentacle. I leapt from tentacle to tentacle until I was on top of the octopus's head with its eye. The eye watched me while I looked around at the tentacles below.
"Why won't you stay dead?" I shouted to the eye. I threw my sword at such an angle that it stuck into the middle of the eye. I pounded the hilt of my sword with my hand to push it deeper into the eye. In a desperate last move, the sickle-blade tentacle came down upon me. I did not have time to move, so I threw my hands up into the air and caught the blade. It was an inch or two from my face. I struggled to hold it back, but I was quickly failing. I pushed away with the last of my strength and dove away. The sickle-blade drove into the eye, slicing it completely in half. I grabbed my sword, jumped onto a nearby tentacle, and slid down to the ground. The octopus melted into the ground behind me. Cielto, Vegance, and Keia all joined me.
"You're acting more and more like Rona lately," Vegance said.
"Maybe he's had an influence on me after all," I replied.
"Oh, no talking… It's not over yet," Sen said. He appeared before us with weapons in hand: a dual-sided sword in one hand and a somewhat large dagger in the other. "Heroes, if we're to really settle this, let's do it in a professional manner… No tricks, only weapons and magic. Sound good to you?"
"No problem," I replied for everyone. "We'll beat you back into your prison and then make it home in time for a party."
"Right." Sen spread himself into a defensive stance. "Let's see what you've got." I looked to the others and then readied my weapon. I charged at Sen and swung my sword. He deflected it and thrust his dagger at me for a counter-attack. I jumped backwards away from it and swung my sword again. He and I fought back each other's swords and locked in place. Cielto ran from the side and tried to hit Sen. Sen pushed me away and countered Cielto's sword with his own. Vegance joined the battle too with her dual daggers. The three of us swung frantically at Sen, but none of our attacks landed. He spun in circles and deflected us all with his dual-blade. Suddenly, an arrow whizzed past my head and almost hit Sen. Instead, he turned around, grabbed it in mid-air, and tossed it away. He only looked at Keia and she fell to the ground and became motionless.
"Keia!" As much as I would have liked to help her, I already had my hands full. I swung around just in time to block one of Sen's attacks. Cielto and Vegance still had not gotten through his defenses. Sen threw both arms into the air. Cielto, Vegance, and I were all blasted backwards at once. He paralyzed Vegance with a glare and then paralyzed Cielto as well.
"I want to see what you can do, Princey," Sen said to me. I got back up on my feet. I readied my sword again. This time, Sen ran at me. He spun in a circle and twisted his dual-blade through the air. I threw my arm up in front of me and knocked away his weapon. With his other hand, he thrust his dagger at me. I grabbed the arm that held the dagger, pulled, and rammed my knee into his stomach. The dagger dropped to the ground. I kicked it away as he reached for it and swung my sword at him. Sen flipped backwards, twirled his dual-blade in the air for a bit, and floated backwards. He landed on the ground and flew at me again. He swung his dual-blade at my legs. I jumped over and then had to duck as the other blade came over my head. I hit him in the stomach again, but this time, my lowered position proved to be a problem. He brought a fist down onto my back and then threw me backwards. I landed hard on the ground. I started to sit up but dropped back down before I could: he had paralyzed me with his stare. Sen walked over to me and stood over me.
"You Heroes grow weaker every time you face me… Or, am I just getting stronger? It might be the lack of Heroes this time… But, it seems you'll just have to die now." Sen held his sword above my head. I would have closed my eyes were I able to. Suddenly, a flash of light sped down through the darkness and knocked Sen backwards. I felt all feeling return to me, and then an invisible hand helped me up. Rysta appeared in front of me.
"Rysta?" I asked in disbelief.
Rysta nodded. "Due to a lack of Heroes, I have to step in for once," she said. With a flick of her wrist, rays of light formed into spikes and pinned Sen to the ground. "Now, bring justice! Take the final step, Cryos, right through his heart." I looked to Sen. I walked over to him and stood over him. I raised my sword up.
"You've lost," I said quietly. I plunged my sword through Sen's chest. He tried to move but could not. I stepped away as he began to glow. Then, Sen disappeared with a flash of light. Vegance, Cielto, and Keia gathered around me. Rysta eyed us with a smile.
"Peace has once again returned to Draconia," Rysta said. "The Heroes have done it again."
"So, now what?" I asked.
"Nothing. Continue your lives… You've earned it."
"That's it? Save the world and then just live life?"
"Isn't that what you wanted? To finish this and settle down with Keia?"
I looked to Keia. She blushed. "Well, I, uh…"
"I can return you to the CentraCity Castle right now…"
I nodded. I looked to Cielto, Vegance, and Keia. They all nodded as well. "When we get home, there will be a rewards ceremony. I know it!"
"Very well…" A flash of light surrounded us, and then the world faded away…
When the light faded and the world came back, we all were standing in the throne room again. My parents still sat upon their thrones with blank expressions upon their faces. Then, they snapped to and looked around. I smiled and waved.
"Mother, Father, welcome back," I said. Their attention focused on me and the others.
"Cryos… Keia?" Father asked. "What's going on? Who are these other two? I've never seen them before…"
"What tricks are you trying to play now?" Mother asked. "Bringing townsfolk into our castle…"
"Please pardon my rudeness," Vegance said. "We've never introduced ourselves… My name is Vegance, m'Lord, and I am a friend of Cryos."
"M'Lord, m'Lady, my name is Cielto," Cielto said and bowed to the floor. "I oversaw the reconstruction of the Travelers' Waypoint out in the Plains…"
"So, why are you here?" Mother asked.
"There's a lot to explain," I started. "Unbeknownst to us, you two were under control by Sen… In that state, you sent Keia and I, and Sen in human form, to kill Necril… I have no idea how long you were like this, but I'm guessing all of my life. Anyway, we met others along the way… Cielto and Vegance are two of them, but the other two died… We did what we were asked to do, and then we returned home to find out everything, and then, as the legendary Heroes of Draconia, we stopped Sen and saved Draconia…" Mother and Father gawked at me in confusion.
"What he says is true… We were all there," Vegance said.
"Then, I suppose we should throw an honorary ceremony for you Heroes," Mother said. "I suppose Rysta will tell us in our hearts just everything we need to know."
"Wait, why throw a ceremony if Cryos is only making up stories?" Father asked.
"How could you doubt our son? After all, a ceremony would be lots of fun, don't you think?"
"Yes… I suppose…"
"And at the same time, we can do a birthday celebration for me as well," I mentioned.
"We'll see," Mother said. I smiled and clapped. Cielto patted me on the back, and Keia hugged me.
"We will hold the ceremony in exactly one week then," Father said. "Your mother and I will plan it."
"Alright… We'll hang out until then… Are we dismissed?"
"Yes, Cryos, enjoy your day… The rest of you too," Mother said. We turned around and left the throne room.
Exactly one week later, our ceremony was held. It took place at the town center on a stage that was set up for the occasion. Several people surrounded the stage, and even Rysta made a showing. Since Mother and Father were unable to explain anything, Rysta took that role. She stood up on the speaker's stand behind where Vegance, Cielto, Keia, and I were lined up and informed the public about all that had happened.
"Now, I would like you to extend a welcome to the Heroes of Draconia… Vegance, former-killer-turned-pure!" The crowd cheered for her. "Cielto, supervisor of the reconstruction of the Travelers' Waypoint…" Again, the crowd cheered. "Keia Luminachi, former worker at the castle…" A lot of guys whistled, but I glared out at the crowd. "And, your price, Cryos!" Everyone cheered for me. I smiled and waved. "Now, as your Heroes, these four must maintain peace in the land in all forms… That means, whenever evil strikes, they will be there. Now for a word or two from our Heroes."
Rysta moved from the back of the speaker's stand. Vegance replaced her. "Uh, hi… My name's Vegance, and like m'Lady Rysta has said, I am a Hero… Er, Heroin, whatever. I never imagined I'd be honored this way, not after an artificial creation and a role in fighting for the darkness… But, in recent events, I have discovered that what I was really fighting for was peace all along. Placed in the current position I am in, I am honored to serve as a protector of the land, and I thank you all for the support. Cryos, Keia, you two served as an example for me, and taught me how to love…" A tear rolled down Vegance's cheek. "If only Rona were here…" Vegance stepped from the speaker's stand and took her place beside Cielto. Then, Cielto went up to speak.
"Hi. I'm Cielto… I've been an ordinary citizen for awhile, though once, I sided with Necril… I trusted him and knew he was doing the right thing from the start. I secretly wrote up plans for him, however, one day, the Travelers' Waypoint out on the Plains was attacked and destroyed. I survived, though, and I helped rebuild the town. I lived there the entire time, too. When Cryos passed through not so long ago, he had the courage to bring me with him, and though my part was small, I gave it a valiant effort… I was not with the others for long, but they did the real job. For that, I congratulate them." Cielto stepped down, and then Keia went up.
"Hi! I suppose maybe a few of you have seen me or heard of me… I am the daughter of the headmaid at the castle, and before now, I've never really been addressed to the public by name… My name is Keia, and I was on this journey with Cryos since day one. We've been through a lot, and he's treated me well… So I'd like to announce that Cryos and I are getting married." A unison gasp from the crowd brought to me the reality of what Keia had just said. My eyes widened and I turned to face her up on the speaker's stand. "Thank you." Keia stepped down and motioned for me to go up and speak. I went around to the stand and gathered myself to speak to the crowd.
"Well, uh, that's a pleasing comment, Keia," I stuttered and blushed. "I'd love that, to be honest." There was cheering and clapping from the crowd. I raised my hand to silence them. "Okay, so, our journey was long… Arduous… And interesting. We've seen some amazing sights, and some not-so-great ones… Sen was actually the one who led us on this from the start, but it's been a great learning experience. All the way through, I never abandoned hope, because I had amazing people like Keia and Vegance around… But the true Heroes, who helped us through the worst situations, cannot be here today… They were two artificial fox spirits, one named Rona, the very same from our history… And the other Ryth, created by Rysta herself and who brightened our day much of the time. Despite being artificial, I've never seen two more natural beings in my life… I hated to see them go, but I would like to thank them for the help."
"No, we'd actually like to thank you," a familiar voice said behind me. I turned around to see who it was, but found out when I was pushed out of the way.
"Ryth? Rona? Wait… Ryth! Rona!" I almost wanted to hug Rona, but his glare changed my mind. Ryth stood nearby and waved. Vegance and Keia reacted quickly too, as Keia ran to hug Ryth and Vegance practically tackled Rona.
"How can this be?" Vegance asked.
"Lemme explain." Rona stood up on the speaker's stand. "Citizens of Draconia, Ryth and I are here… We were with Cryos much of the journey, though out of lack of understanding, we killed Necril… Wasn't until after the fact that we discovered what was going on… Anyways, we were never really dead… Even if we were, legends never die."
"Then, what happened?" I asked.
"Fox spirits, unknown to many people, possess a sacrificial ability," Ryth said. "We can trigger it, sacrificing ourselves for the safety of others… Rona and I, with our combined power, triggered this sacrifice, and it was strong enough to take Necril with us… However, it's not a permanent death. That's how we're here…"
"Didn't see that coming," Keia said.
"Yes, well, there's other things we need to take care of," Father said. Rona moved out of the way to let Father speak. "Cryos, your mother and I apologize for not granting you your birthday wishes… So, what is it that you really want?"
I thought for a moment. All eyes were focused on me. "I…" I hesitated. "I don't really want anything. Believe it or not, this journey was great… I am already satisfied."
"Seriously?"
"All I ask is freedom… To come and go as I want, to do as I see fit… I want Ryth to help me with some 'projects,' and proper rooming at the castle for the other Heroes… I couldn't ask for more."
Father looked to Mother, and Mother looked to everyone else. "Well, your wish shall come true," Mother said. "Rooming at the castle for the Heroes, and you all are free to come and go as you please."
"Cryos, you realize that if you're always out and about, you can't be king, right?" Father asked.
"If there's one thing I learned," I said, "it's that the peoples' safety comes before all else. If that means being out and about all the time, I would give up being king of Draconia to accomplish that goal."
Rysta stepped up beside Father. "It's the life of a Hero he wishes to pursue."
Father was silent for a moment. "Then if that's the case, I pronounce you all, Ryth, Rona, Keia, Vegance, Cielto, and Cryos, the honorary Heroes of Draconia!" The crowd cheered, whistled, and clapped. Rysta disappeared, and we were all left upon the stage in the midst of the cheering crowd. Keia walked up beside me, put her arm around me, and smiled.
"So, no what?" she asked.
"Oh, a lot of things," I said. "Our journey's just begun…"