Chapter 16: The Truth Behind the Rambling Man.

Jaeger didn't know what to do anymore. She didn't think anyone knew what they were going to do until Kyle jumped into action by leaping onto the bed, throwing the covers over himself, and pretending that he was asleep. Jaeger followed him at first, but at the edge of the bed she stopped. Hadn't she just got through saying that she would do what the Crystal had asked of her? How could she ever expect to do that if she couldn't even face an elderly man?

The crystal that she had broken was lying where she had left it for the most part, undisturbed by Kyle's mad scramble. As she stared into the crystal she could remember vividly the threat of the Light, and the words that boy had shared with her. 'Justice need not fail...'

As she thought about these things she didn't feel afraid anymore, and as Gerot opened the door she picked up her crystal and slowly hid it behind her back. Jeff and Nick had barely moved at all, and the only noticeable difference was that Jeff was holding the other crystal behind himself as well.

The old man was holding a large candle, while his son followed behind him carrying a tray with four small plates on it. When the candle light finally allowed Gerot to get a glimpse at them, he stopped. His son dropped the tray and the plates broke into hundreds of small pieces.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Gerot asked as he took a step back. "What happened to the crystal?!"

Jaeger went and stood beside Jeff and Nick. She felt colder than she had been since first arriving and her stomach was starting to feel a little nauseous, so she was glad that she hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast. Jaeger was sure she heard someone yelling from somewhere in the house after the crash, but the commotion had died down and no one was running in to their rescue. She still had the dagger at her side, which Gerot and Ashley had either not noticed or had decided to let her keep for some reason, but she didn't want to have to use it against them. She turned and looked at Nick and Jeff and she was comforted to see no fear in their eyes.

"There comes a time when you gotta grow up, take a stand, and be a man," Jeff said quietly to them as he held out the crystal towards Nick. "It's time to stop running and hiding."

After a few moments, Nick nodded. "I was thinking about it, and that little voice in that Light world told me to show the world what I could do." He reached for the crystal in Jeff's hands and picked it up. "Might as well start now."

"What are you talking about?!" Gerot demanded loudly as his voice trembled in terror. His son looked as if he was ready to attack. "Who are you really?! Who?!"

"I already told you earlier," Nick said as he raised his crystal into the air. "My name is Nick, and I am a Warrior of the Darkness."

"My name is Jaeger," she added. Her voice was steady and clear as she raised the crystal, and it surprised her how easy what she was about to say had become. Jaeger didn't know why they had raised the crystals, but it had seemed like the right thing to do for some reason. Gerot's already sagging jaw dropped further as he recognized his own crystal in her hand. "I am one of the Dark Warriors as well."

The mayor's face changed from one of horror into an expression of jubilation, but his son leaped towards them aggressively. Jaeger quickly put the crystal into her other hand and drew out the dagger and pointed it at him, while Jeff and Nick fell into defensive stances.

"Hold on Argen! This is it!" Gerot said as he grabbed after his son, who struggled in his grip for a few moments before giving up. "This is what we've been waiting for!" Gerot turned towards her and the others and bowed his head. "I'm sorry for everything that's happened up until now, Warriors of Darkness. My real name is Zuchen, and it is because I know the truth that me and my family have lived here for the past ten years." Argen broke free of his father and began to pace back and forth as he looked at them and began to mutter angrily.

"Your real name?" Jaeger was confused, but she lowered the dagger slowly as she kept watch on the two strange men. "What do you mean that you knew the truth?"

"Wait, I'm confused now," Nick said. "Are you going to try to kill us now or not?"

"No, and I must sincerely apologize again for not helping you sooner," Gerot, or rather Zuchen said. "But we were already wary of you when you first arrived."

"What in the name of the Light are you talking about?!" Kyle yelled from his position on the bed while sitting up. "You were the one who was telling us how evil the Darkness was!"

Zuchen seemed startled by Kyle's sudden movement, but after a moment he nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, yes, and I am sorry for that and everything else I've done. You must have believed you had no friends here because of me, but it was because of your caretaker and the Light that teleported everyone into my home that made me wary of revealing my true allegiance. I believed that Ashley was one of the King's agents that had finally tracked me down."

"An agent?" Jaeger asked. Now that she thought about it, Ashley did seem more like a soldier than a caretaker at an orphanage.

"She appeared suddenly and was unconscious, but I could tell she was an experienced warrior and she was holding a communication crystal, another reason I had to be wary of her even if she wasn't a spy. And you must understand that, from my point of view, that I did not believe you were the Dark Warriors. Either you were just children playing a very dangerous game for yourselves, or, and this is what I truly believed, you were a ploy on your caretakers part to hear me reveal myself through the crystals or once you told her. I was terrified, and I tried to act like I didn't know anything and that I worshipped the Light, just like everyone else."

Argen muttered something under his breath bitterly as he stopped pacing for a moment, and then he continued as he shook his head over and over again as he appeared to argue with himself. Was there something wrong with him too?

"I'm sorry, I can't be making any sense at the moment. I must start at the beginning I suppose if you are to understand why I've done all this. As I told you before, my real name is Zuchen and I lived in the Kingdom of Argus before our continent was surrounded by water. I was a student of Owen's principles, and later I was even one of his many assistants that researched the negative effect that Light was having upon the world.

"You were probably just children at the time, but Owen was imprisoned for insisting that we must soon begin to use the powers of Darkness to balance out the powers of Light that we were utilizing, though the ministry claimed it was for 'seditious libel'." The mayor snorted. "Our research was stolen and the lab was ransacked shortly before the trial, and Owen's colleagues had begun to disappear one after another. Even his son Desch was nowhere to be found, though later I found out it was because he was on another wild girl chase.

"In the end I went to the Gulgan caves for advice, but the Prophecy of Doom had already been spoken before I got anywhere near them. I turned back intending to flee Argus with my family, but my communication crystal spoke to me during my trip. It was the Crystal of the Earth."

"Crystal of the Earth?" Nick interrupted sounding as surprised as Jaeger felt at the mayor's claim. "Was it a Stupid Rock too by any chance?"

Jaeger shook her head. For some reason she doubted that he had heard anything else Zuchen had just said and had only picked out that one part. "Nick, it's not your turn to speak. Try and pay attention, please?" Nick looked at her for a moment but he didn't say anything.

Zuchen seemed uncomfortable and Argen had stopped pacing around the room and appeared even more upset than before. After a few moments the elder shook his head. "A stupid rock? I wouldn't say that it was-"

"Of course it was! Don't you get it yet, dad?!" Argen yelled. "First it got us thrown in prison, then it had us run out of our home, made us have to give up our names and everything, and then," he stopped pacing and gestured towards Nick and herself. "Oh and then, the best part is that the so called Warriors that were supposed to be our hope show up and they're nothing but children!" Silence answered his outburst and after a moment he left the room and slammed the door causing everything in the room to shake a little.

Zuchen turned back to them and sighed. "I'm sorry for that. Life has not been kind to him, and moving to this cold and depressing place did nothing to help him." He coughed once and moved towards the bed and leaned on it. "Where was I?"

"The Crystal of the Earth had spoken to you," Jaeger reminded him.

"Ahh yes, I was surprised to hear it communicate with me as well, and it told me that even if we had followed Owen's plan that it was too late. It claimed that we had abused that power so much that it would grow out of control in a matter of days. It said that I had to tell the Kingdom the truth about the Prophecy and that the Dark Warriors were the only ones that could put an end to it. But..." The mayor stopped talking and hung his head, his face slowly transforming into a painting of misery.

"So why didn't ya?" Jeff asked harshly after a few moments. "Yer voice box turn yellow?"

Jaeger elbowed him lightly out of reflex. Jeff grunted, but he didn't protest except in a few inaudible grumbles to himself, just as he always did when he knew she was right and he had gone over a line.

"No, it wasn't fear that kept me from speaking. I simply couldn't do it. I contemplated throwing away my crystal and ignoring everything it had told me, but not because I was afraid. I would have preferred fear to what occurred next. Something came over me as the Crystal spoke; I heard what the crystal had to say, but the more it spoke the less I believed it. On the contrary, I...I began to doubt Owen's teachings and conclusions as the works of a madman. I was even beginning to believe that he was trying to bring about the ruin of civilization. And then it was like I was possessed, I went to my home as I had intended and then I told my wife that I would go to the Crystal Palace itself if I had to in order to insure Owen's work would not endanger the world. My wife..." Zuchen paused for a moment. "My wife knocked some sense back into me, in the most literal sense of the term. Without her, I don't know what would have happened..."

Jaeger began to rub her hands and elbows uncomfortably. This story was eerily similar to the one that Ashley had told them except that Ashley had not lost control of her mind. The Crystals had both tried to contact Ashley and Zuchen, but for some reason neither of them had done anything that it had suggested.

There was a long awkward pause, but then Jeff cleared his throat. "When she knocked sense into ya, did she happen to use a fryin' pan?"

"No," he replied. "She was kind enough to just use a rolling pin."

The boys shared a short laugh over that, Nick's piercing shriek dying faster than the others, but Jaeger didn't crack so much as a smile. She didn't think that there was anything funny about this.

"Still," the mayor continued. "I prefer that to what was happening to me at the time. I couldn't explain what had happened and I used my crystal to see if I could communicate with it again, but there was nothing but silence and a few people who I disturbed by accident. Still, I wanted to do what the Crystal of the Earth asked, so I went to the castle with my son and told everyone what it had told me. We were arrested for trying to spread a needless panic and blasphemy.

"Blasphemy?" Kyle asked angrily. "How could they think it was blasphemy! Couldn't they have just asked the Crystal if what you were saying was true?!"

"Yes, it occurred to me, after my head cleared from both the possession and my wife's tender wake up call, that the Crystal should have been able to give everyone this message on its own. The Priests and Priestesses used to speak with the Crystals regularly before our continent was surrounded by the water, and they claimed that if there was such a warning that they would have been the first to have been told," Zuchen shook his head. "And then something terrible occurred to me. What if they had been possessed as well? What if they had been told and they were simply under the same spell that had controlled me?

"At first, I didn't know for sure, but after all these years I think I found the answer." Zuchen claimed. He stood up and used the candle light to walk over to his broken crystal that Jaeger had dropped and picked it up. "Crystals. The crystals that just produce light, the crystals that provide power for our engines, my communication crystal here, and even the four Elemental Crystals. We intentionally enhance the crystals so that they can channel the power of Light, and we are like moths that are drawn to that flame. People are unable to resist its seductive call and fall under its control. I decided to test my theory, once I got out of prison, by trying to throw away my communication crystal again. Sadly, I was correct; no matter how hard I tried I couldn't bring myself to get rid of it. Our people have allowed the Light into our lives, and we cannot escape its influence nor for the moment our dependence."

Jaeger turned and moved slowly towards the bed as what he was saying began to fill her with horror. If what he was saying was true, then there would be no end of their enemies. Everyone used crystals to some extent, and if it could warp the user's mind then no one would believe them no matter what proof they might offer to the contrary.

"Wait a second," Jeff argued just as Jaeger was sitting down. "We spoke with the Crystal and we're all right. How come we didn't get possessed?"

"I would assume that would be because you are the Dark Warriors," Zuchen shrugged.

"No," Jaeger stated. "Me and Nick, we are the Dark Warriors. Jeff and Kyle are not."

"What?" the old man asked as he looked about wildly between them. "But, I thought...well there were four of you..."

Jeff crossed his arms. "Sorry to disappoint you, but we ain't got the right stuff."

Zuchen's brow furrowed as he considered the problem. "But, if that's the case then I don't see why you wouldn't be affected...unless I'm wrong...or...perhaps it is because you are children. Yes, you can't have been exposed to very much except for light crystals in an orphanage I would think...and at your age perhaps you wouldn't be as affected as myself or other adults."

"That's great!" Jaeger shouted, and then felt a pang of guilt as everyone went to cover their ears. "Sorry. It's just...if light crystals don't have much of an effect then we may still have a chance. If the entire world was against us, even against their will..." Jaeger trailed off and the conversation died. No one spoke for a short time after that.

"Okay, is it my turn now?" Nick asked loudly, making Jaeger jump a little as she covered her own ears. "In that case, I just have a few quick questions, first: How'd you get out of prison?"

"Oh yes, I owe that to Owen and Desch," Zuchen claimed. "The King and the ministers came to Owen soon after the Sphere's Edge had formed and asked him if there was anything he could do. He told them that he would begin work right away, but only on the condition that his friends and assistants are set free. They agreed in the end, but only if Owen was successful and they also said that we would only be freed if we helped him find a solution. While working on the Tower of Owen and making the necessary changes, Desch had discovered that, while they were going to free most of the others, they had no intention of letting me or my son go after what I had claimed about the Dark Warriors. Desch helped me and my son escape, but we had to leave behind our identities and our lives. My wife was waiting on a boat she had arranged to take us across the basin thanks to that young man letting her in on the plan.

"I didn't know what else to do with my life at that point, since I had to leave everything behind. I spoke with my wife and eventually we came here in search of the Crystal of the Wind to maybe speak with it since the priests at the Earth Palace would recognize me, but a troll has been guarding the cave for the past eleven years and we dared not enter."

"Troll?" Jaeger and the others asked at the same time to the surprise of the mayor.

"Yes, all the priests that used to live here abandoned this forsaken place or died long ago at either the hands of that beast or the goblins." Zuchen explained.

"Did anyone ever see the troll actually kill anyone?" Jaeger asked as she folded her arms angrily.

"Well, no-" Zuchen began, but Jaeger didn't let him finish.

"Then how do you know that it killed anyone?" she asked angrily.

"I, well..."

"How do you know it wasn't a half-troll, or just a guy who looked like a troll?"

"Well, I..."

"In case Ashley or the others didn't tell you, it was a troll-like man that was sent by the Crystal of the Wind that saved our lives! We wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for his sacrifice!" Zuchen and the others were silent after Jaeger's eruption and she took the time to calm down. So much had happened in just one day, this was too much for her to take.

"Okay, is it my turn again?" Nick asked loudly all of a sudden. "Okay, second question: What happened to your crystal you rambled on and on about?"

"Haven't you figured it out yet, ya slime-brain?" Jeff said, and Jaeger wished that she was close enough to hit him for that; instead she made a note to do it later. "It's the crystal that Jaeger broke!"

"Really?" Nick asked.

"Your friend is right," Zuchen explained. "When I went to prison my crystal was sent to my wife, and it was one of the only possessions she couldn't leave behind and brought it with her on the ship. It's why I was afraid Ashley might be listening when I first encountered you."

"Ah, okay." Nick said with a satisfied nod. "Third, why did Ashley say you were stupid for believing her? You said like you were a lab assistant, and you can't be stupid and do that kind of stuff, right?"

"She said that, did she?" Zuchen chuckled. "Well, I can understand why she would think that. She has to be the worst liar that I have ever met and that's saying something. I mean, she told me that the armor you two were wearing was just some goblin armor that you had found out in the wastes."

"Goblin armor?!" Jaeger and the others asked as they looked at the armors.

"Who in their right mind would believe this was goblin armor?!" Kyle asked. He poked the armor on Jaeger's shoulder, and then leapt back as his finger went through the illusion.

"Like I said, she had some right to think I'm daft," the mayor laughed. "Do you have any more questions?"

"Nah," Nick said as he shivered. "I think you just answered everything, except can we go somewhere warmer or get something to eat?"