Chapter 6: Access

-Trust in thy blade; never waver, even for a second.

-Garet, the Hero of Mars

Ivan slowly sat the fast dying knight onto the ground while Xavier slipped his weapon out of his chest ever so quietly. Mei checked the grounds just around the small shop just inside town. It took only a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darkness that loomed over the other homes. The village had been ransacked. The inn was caved in, not a single Champan stood in sight, the creek looked an angry red due to blood that drifted from a small body, maybe a child's, by the bank. Before she took her eyes away from the gruesome sight she spotted a circle of knights arguing over something. Xavier saw her distress when a tear fell from her eye. Placing his hand on her shoulder for comfort, he then asked her, "How many?"

She looked at him with an angry fire burning within. "About six."

Xavier nodded and turned to Ivan, who glanced around the corner to see the sight and was shaking with anger and worry himself. "We're goin' straight in you two," he said, all logics gone.

Without any hesitation (and before Ivan counted to three), Mei whipped around the corner and charged straight at the knights, who spotted her coming and drew their weapons. One knight let out a cry as Xavier and Ivan bolted from the other side of the shop to warn the others inside. Two knights rushed at Mei, both flashing a quick strike at the enraged Mercury adept. She spun-dove between the two, both parrying both gruesome blades with her Trident and letting off fatal blows to each of the warriors. A third rushed in just in time to intercept the spinning backslash of Xavier's mighty Firebrand in the chest, thus falling in a pool of his own blood. Ivan let out a series of plasma bolts into two more soldiers coming from behind Xavier, stopping them where they stood. Xavier then whipped around in a spinning motion, both Gaia and Firebrand drawn, and lopped off both immobilized soldiers' heads off. "Ivan!" Mei cried as the last remaining soldier swooped in from behind and swung his rather large ax towards Ivan's neck, almost striking him dead.

Almost.

A quick flash of light and Ivan stood behind the dumbstruck soldier. Xavier and Mei watched in awe as the poor soldier's body slide in four different places to the ground. "'Never waver, even for a second.' Those were Garet's words," he said as he sheathed his stainless blade. "Move quickly. I believe we've made a rather rude awakening."

Phase one, enter Champan caverns, was complete.

-

He awoke immediately as he heard the many footsteps of the soldiers pass by. His red-orangish hair showed bright even in the shadows of the locked storage area. He looked down at his forest-camo armor to see if it still held. Though a bit big, it still fits him well. He rubbed his hazel-gold eyes, wandering how long has it been since his good for nothing father locked him and his mother in the storage area.

Cursing him for sealing the door with Grandmother's "forbidden psynergy", he turned to gaze at his mother, who laid unconscious against the back wall. Rest well Mother, he thought. He reached towards the pendant bearing the Champan symbol around his neck and thought of how he witness his mother take down over ten of those "demons" in less than a minute, and his mother collapse from exhaustion after the relentless battle. He smiled, then turned his attention to the wall where the door used to be and immediately frowned.

He was still stuck in the room.

The aggravated eighteen-year old adept walked across the dark storage to reclaim his already worn Mighty Ax, an axe almost equal to his size. Again he turned to hear footsteps on the ground. With his newly charged psynergy the young man placed his hand on the blank wall and called silently: Mind Read!

-

Xavier and Mei quickly dove behind the cave wall to avoid the passing soldiers that chased frantically at the lightning-fast wind adept. Phase two, clear pathway, was complete.

The cave itself was like one giant maze. Surprisingly, each torch on the walls let off a sort of reflecting light off the cave walls. The walls were smoothly shaven down to a clean, smooth façade. Each wall had a pattern, each looking different. It seemed that the villagers had made their history long ago. The cool walls plus the heat from the burning torches gave Xavier a quick feeling of calmness before he realized…

He had a mission to complete.

He signaled for Mei to move up the stairway. She nodded and hurried up the pathway, Xavier fast following. As they reach the top of the stairwell they noticed that the path split off into two directions: north and south. "Any ideas?" Mei asked.

Xavier looked down both passageways. "Well, it be best to stick together, so I'd say…south?"

Mei shook her head and turned north. Usually Xavier's hunches got them into trouble (for example, the teleport lapis). Xavier grabbed her and rushed behind the bend opposite Mei's way. "Listen!"

"What are you-" Mei then realized what Xavier was talking about.

Footsteps.

"Get ready," Xavier said.

-

"Damn!" Ivan cried as another demon soldier struck at him from behind.

These knights were far more experienced than those before. Each elite warrior bore a crescent cloak that masked their scent and quickened their movements, which was very different from the previous warriors he had slain just moments ago. Demon damn soldiers Garet fought, Ivan thought, which made him fight even harder at the image of his fallen friend.

Narrowly dodging the fatal blow, Ivan dropped to his belly and let out a devastating Spark Plasma in the area around him, frying nearly all the remaining knights. He then rolled back to his feet, sheathing Swift. He turned quickly when he heard more footsteps, about three, but footsteps heading; not here, he thought. Then…

Ivan turned and headed towards the stairwell leading up. "Got to hurry!"

He then froze in his footsteps as an icy, familiar feeling passed through him when he heard those words.

"You're not going anywhere," the voice uttered from behind the wind adept.

Ivan turned and faced the violet-haired figure before him.

"Your fight is with me."

-

"We gotta find somewhere to hide!" Xavier said.

"Why?"

Xavier thought to himself for a second.

Why are we running? We are stronger!

He smirked. "You're right."

"What?" Mei asked with a blank look on her face.

Xavier answered her question by drawing Gaia and Firebrand. Mei quickly understood and kept her Trident close which, she noticed, started a faint vibration. Before she could say a word Xavier swung Gaia around the corner to connect with the leading soldier's rather large sword. Forcing Xavier back, the soldier quickly rushed in with a lightning fast jab towards the young warrior's chest. Xavier didn't even notice the attack before Mei's Trident shot out from behind the corner to intercept the killing strike, twisting his blade fully from his grasp and putting the apparently confused knight on his heels. She dropped low and used the back of the Trident to trip the dark knight, instantly putting him to the ground. She put her Trident high and attempted to run the soldier through to end his pitiful life.

This knight, however, was no novice.

The soldier spun out of harm's way, picked up his lost weapon, and out of nowhere flung a hidden dagger towards the dumbstruck female. The dagger was stopped by the figure that appeared directly before Mei. Xavier winced as he felt the cold steel of the dagger slipping into his left shoulder, but still stood as if nothing happened. His swords connected squarely with the knelt knight's giant sword. "Get back!" Xavier cried, using full strength, which was fast waning, on keeping the expert knight knelt. Mei quickly obeyed and withdrew from the battle back around the bend. The knight again forced Xavier back, but this time he was ready. Xavier slid back to about a foot before the corner and let out a series of slices and jabs at the charging knight, who was instantly set back on his heels. The barrage was short-lived, however, as the knight came in close and collided with Xavier's Firebrand. The blade instantly flared and forced the surprised knight back, putting both swordsmen at a stalemate. A bead of sweat ran down Xavier's left eye. He knew he couldn't keep up for long against this elite warrior, not in his condition. He noticed the knight signaling to his left arm while letting out a dark cackle. Xavier gritted his teeth as reached up and yanked the dagger out of his now wounded arm. He looked at the dark knight…

…and smiled as he uttered the word, "Aura."

His body blazed a faint red. A look of satisfaction turned into utter disbelief as the knight watched Xavier's wound close right up as if nothing happened. Xavier checked to see if his arm was fine and looked back at the knight. He noted the other two demon knights heading their way.

"Can you take them?" he said to his companion.

"Yeah. You gonna be fine? Seems like he's in charge."

Another smile. She got his meaning and intercepted the other two, each connecting with their swords against her large Trident.

This fight just got interesting, Xavier thought.

-

Mei swung the Trident hard, forcing both soldiers back in opposite directions. Dove between the knights, doing her signature spin as she did so. One knight was unlucky, as her vicious Trident tore through his faceplate, ending his pitiful life. The other intercepted the Mercury adept's killing blow as her bloody weapon came down to do its vicious bite.

Surprised, Mei quickly flipped out the way of the remaining soldier's upcoming strike and countered with a powerful one-handed thrust. Being no novice, the soldier spun to his left and charged forward, forcing the young female warrior on her heels. She responded with a Freeze Prism directly to his chest, sending him flying backwards into a wall. The soldier looked up…just in time to see the Psynergy-cackling weapon heading directly for his face.

-

Yes, just one, the red haired teen thought. Having finally figuring out what his father had done, he thought he'd take out a few knights and make his escape. He again turned to see his mother, who (oddly) still slept like a child. Shaking his head, he gripped his Mighty Ax tightly and called out, "Reveal!"

His hand shot out, grabbed the figure, and yanked her inside past him. Dropping the spell, he turned to finish off the awaiting opponent. It took him a few seconds to register the psynergy-crackling Trident before his throat and a very angry girl awaiting.

-

Xavier sidestepped the mighty vertical swipe the knight had done and countered with a few quick strikes of his own, setting the elite warrior back on his heels. The knight dodged and parried each blow, then released his own series of cuts and stabs followed by a quick backslash aimed for Xavier's chest. Xavier parried each continuing strike and leapt high over the furious knight. Seeing an opening, he flashed the Gaia Blade around to hold the knight's weapon in check and slammed the hilt of the Firebrand into the unguarded knight's face, stunning him. Xavier then felt the Gaia Blade pulse with Venus psynergy. He landed before the recovering knight, dropped the Firebrand, aimed for the knight's chest, and released a devastating wild slash while screaming, "Titan Blade!!"

The knight grunted as he held his sword up to block the mighty attack. His look of smugness immediately switched to utter horror as he watched the child's glowing blade change into a huge sword of pure psynergy and slice through his own greatsword as if it was grass. He howled in disbelief as the giant blade pierced through his heart and lungs, silencing him forever.

Xavier dropped his Gaia Blade, amazed at its power. He cannot remember a time when he ever unleashed that much destructive power. He looked at his hands. Was this Father's might?

Realizing he forgot about the mission, Xavier wheeled around the corner, picking up both weapons as he did so. Only then did he realize that Mei had disappeared. He leaned against the wall to think where could she have gone.

-

"Who are you?" Mei asked agitatedly.

"I could ask you the same thing," the boy replied.

Mei looked over his clothing. She noted the camo-armor and the rather large ax in his hand. She looked over his red hair that of almost similar value as Xavier's, and quite unbefitting of a dark knight. His height could rival that of Piers, who stood a foot taller than her, and easily beat Xavier, who held about half a foot over her. The boy's necklace is what caught her eye. The pendant itself looked to be meticulously carved out of pure gold with each detail done to perfection. The symbol was a golden ship blown by embedded wind currents. That was the Champan symbol. Mei lowered her weapon, but eyed the warrior warily. "You're Champan, aren't you?" Mei asked.

The boy nodded. "I am. You do not look like the others yourself, but, not like us either. Tell me, who are you, and why did you come here?"

"I am Mei of Imil."

"The Northern Tip?"

She regarded him. "Yes. I'm surprised you know. Most don't."

"We've done business before. Anyway, why did you travel so far just to come here?"

The boy waited for an answer, but Mei merely stared at him as if waiting for something. "Ah, forgive me," the boy said. "My name is E-it's Leo. Leo will do."

Mei noted his sudden switch in lettering. "You still have not answered my question," Leo said impatiently.

"Right. Well, I'm basically here to save any survivors, you can say."

The male warrior let out a dark laugh. "Alone? Ha! You've no idea what's happening here!"

Mei frowned. "No. I am here with a few friends. And…I do believe we have a grasp on things here. We fought up to this point." Mei retorted.

"Speaking of which…" she pointed at the wall where the opening used to be. "Can you…?"

Leo chuckled again as he muttered "Reveal" and exposed the hidden doorway. He immediately jumped as he watched a rather confused Xavier fall right where he stood. "What the hell!? What in the…" Xavier stopped as he looked up and saw Mei shaking her head in disbelief.

"Honestly, Xavier…"

Xavier sat up and turned his attention to the boy whose hair resembled that of…

"Garet!? I thought you had-" he looked the boy over, a small twinge of sadness hitting him for a moment, then going away.

"Wait, you're not-who are you?"

"His name is Leo, Xavier," Mei answered for Leo, who looked a bit testy after barely dodging a human being bearing armor.

"He's a Champan."

He then pointed towards the woman rested against the back wall. "And her?"

"I never noticed her. Who is she Leo?"

Leo's expression changed into a solemn frown. "My mother."

Xavier flinched. "She's been like that for a few hours now. I don't know if she'll ever wake up."

Mei walked over to her and placed her hand on her head. "She's burning up! Haven't you checked her!?"

Leo looked away. "I…don't know how to deal with this. Grandmother uses the healing psynergy, and I ran out of vials on the way here."

Xavier stood and went to Mei's side, who repeatedly casted Pure Ply over the woman. She looked to Xavier. "I've gotten rid of the illness, but I cannot wake her."

Xavier nodded and placed his hand on the woman's forehead. "Revive!"

Her body glowed for a second, but instantly went out. Mei looked to Xavier, who started breathing hard and sweating. "What's wrong?"

"I've used too much psynergy. I can't use anymore spells."

Mei helped Xavier stand to his feet and walk towards Leo, who warily helped him against the wall. Xavier shrugged them both off. "I can walk and still fight," he said.

Mei chuckled at his pride and turned to Leo. "Your mother will be fine, but you'll have to carry her. Are there any others?"

Leo looked away. "None. My good for nothing father locked us away here and never returned. The others…" he stopped for a second. "were slaughtered in their sleep, one by one."

Xavier growled. How he remembered his own home being decimated in almost the same way by the same people, but not so cruelly. "Let's go," he spat, thoroughly upset.

Mei nodded, helped Leo with his mother, and started for the doorway, but was stopped by Xavier, who drew both weapons. Mei also heard and grasped her weapon hard. "Do you hear them?" Xavier asked.

"Yeah," Mei replied.

"Sword against sword, and very fast."

Unexpectedly, Xavier hopped back into the room, narrowly dodging a human figure who smashed into the wall to the right of the doorway. Cautiously, he stepped out and turned to see a very battle worn Ivan leaning on his Swift Sword. He seemed to be wounded in many places as blood stained his garments on his left side, right arm, and his cloak. His eyes barely stayed opened. He looked as if he'd collapse any second. "X-Xavier!" he managed to get out.

Xavier rushed over to catch him from falling, but Ivan pushed him away. "You've found our target. N-now escape!"

"What happened!?"

"He's lost his edge in one year. How sad, don't you think Xavier?"

Xavier's face paled. He slowly turned to look at the warrior who brought Ivan down. His garments were rather loose. He bore a simple black pair of traveler's pants that went under his silver greaves. Under the sleeveless black jacket, he wore a grey mythril shirt that bore the symbol of Acheron in the middle of it. His violet hair seemed to sway even when no wind was around. His violet eyes revealed a malicious joy, a joy that sent a chill down Xavier's spine. That joy was destruction.

"Ah, it's been awhile, hasn't it…old friend?"