CHARACTER COUNTER:4

Chapter 42: Sleep Walks and Dark Nights

A void, filled with silence and dim light, all around them did it seek to terrorize their frail hearts. It was a disaster, their quarry was not here, nor did they hold any desire to be there. Had they the power, they would rather end their lives right there and then.

All around them a disturbing silence, it felt as if they were caged in cell wrought of malice and shadow, the steel bars designed to close in on you and clamp you down into madness.

All around them the silence was broken by occasional murmurs and growls, a low and coarse breathing, some distant beast on the prowl.

All around them, a shadow cloaking fear, ready to pounce on them, caveat devoid.

They were terrified, petrified to a stillness that would match that of a monument. Huddling together, as close as their bodies would allow, locked in an embrace which would have been shared by lovers.

They were three. Three sacred little girls. Shivering of fright and suffering the bite of some imagined cold. All around them a nothingness.

'Yfae, this doesn't look like Phon coast.' a girl sparingly clothed in yellow said. Her jaws quivering as she spoke. It was as if some frost had assaulted her and caused her suffering. She didn't know why she was suddenly cold all of a sudden. After all, she climbed Paramina Rift in the same clothes she was wearing now and she was never as cold as this. She bit her lip to make some feeling return.

'Dispense the obvious, Reena.' The tallest of them spoke. She was slender and had silver hair. Her black clothes glistened slightly when some light struck it. 'I knew Warping was not a good idea.' She gave a pointed look at Reena, her eyes as cold as the whispers of the invisible chill that surrounded them.

Reena stuck her tongue out despite the threat of it freezing up. 'How was I supposed to know Warping was so difficult? Pop never made it look hard!"

'I-I think we should move on.' The third interrupted before either one could retort. Her brown hair was quaking in tune with her shivering body. 'I-if there are some things here which don't like Humes, we better get a m-move on. Pyriah, Reena, we have to stay together.'

Reena nodded as frantically as she could, her braids bobbing with her movement. Pyriah was less enthusiastic.

'If both of you stop hugging me maybe we can move.' Pyriah said.

'Oh, right.' The other two whispered as they slowly eased their arms away from Pyriah.

'Right, our best bet is u-up.' Yfae said.

Without another word, another shiver or complaint, they set off.

XOXOXO

The Ministry complex was a vast campus which had several buildings. One of which was the Majistrate. All judge Majisters currently employed and in service had their offices stationed there. Presently, there are three offices; one has been empty for some time now. The other two belonged to the legendary Zargabath and the other to the enigmatic Scipio.

The two met in the first floor lobby where a female receptionist with red hair fidgeted behind her desk.

'Good day, Scipio Fortunato Lurread.' Judge Majister Zargabath said with a slight nod, promptly stopping Scipio in his tracks with the use of his full name.

Judge Majister Scipio gave the faintest flicker towards his direction before barely letting out a mutter of 'Hello.'

Zargabath seemed to have something else in his mind as he folded his arms and spoke in a tone meant to be casual, 'Where are you off?'

'To whatever end which is pleasant to my eyes.' A slight smirk and an even lighter tone followed this answer.

'Ah, I see.' Zargabath answered just light and gave another polite nod. His helmet betrayed nothing, not even his surprise at Scipio's startling reply.

'NO, YOU DON'T! NO ONE UNDERSTANDS ME!' Scipio bolted and shot out the door.

Moments after the enigmatic Judge's outburst, Zargabath was still rooted to the spot, silent as the grave/

'Ease, your honor.' A female voice said and Zargabath turned to the receptionist with the red hair. 'There's never been a judge who has a past dark as night.' She added.

'I guess you are correct.' Zargabath breathed after some silence, nodding at Aurea, unaware that despite the outburst, Scipio had regained control and heard what was said after.

Dark as night…

Scipio could hear the words as clearly as though that girl was speaking beside him. He came up to a building much higher than the Majistrate, and, to all disbelief, he leaped over it. He landed on a roof and bounded across random rooftops southward.

To a place where all seemed to be as bleak as a lone child stranded in the deepest depths of a place as dark as night.

XOXOXOX

The light was growing stronger as they ascended. From dim green it strengthened into neon, and even brighter until they could clearly see what was around them.

Their ascent had not been easy, time to time they were ambushed by strange creatures, one of which gave them a whiff of its horrid breath which caused Reena to faint.

There was also this strange feeling which was always about them. It was as if they felt that there was endlessness in their trek to wherever the road before them led. They scaled the hive-like structure which surrounded a huge golden crystal in the middle.

They had started at the very bottom of the structure, and now, they could almost swear that they were near the middle of the colossal crystal. They kept on walking for hours on end, continuously climbing the stairs until their legs could bring them no further.

Sitting down, nearly lying down in exhaustion, the three breathed deeply as they struggled to keep air in their lungs.

As sweat trickled down their weary brows they gasped out words, 'It looks like,' Reena panted, 'We've escaped the cold.'

'Yes, it does seem so.' Pyriah replied.

'Let's rest here.' Yfae gasped. They were all very tired, they all yearned for a breather, but the presence of malign creatures threatened their lives every single second. There was no safety where they were.

They allowed their eyes to flutter shut, they knew they couldn't indulge themselves with even a moment of rest, but they had little energy to fight of sleep, let alone a monster.

They slept soundly and awoke later. Their slumber was broken elsewhere. They were now parallel to the crystal's peak. They rubbed the remainder of their weariness form their eyes and slowly sat up, they were lying right next to each other.

Reena yawned and said, 'Wow, we sure can sleep walk!' she smiled at her two companions.

'I carried all of you. You all weighed heavy upon my shoulders so I fain to drag one of you.' A silky voice said suddenly. The three girls whipped their heads about and…

'Scipio!' they all said in unified shock.

'It's been a while since Nalbina. Who would think I'd find you here?' Scipio asked casually. There was a soothed tone to his voice; it was as if nothing wrong has ever happened to

him.

'Hey!' Reena quickly got up and rushed towards Scipio, pointing a finger at him, 'you set us up with that weird kid person! You never said he'd have bodyguards!'

Scipio turned away from her and simply said, 'So I didn't.'

Wide-eyed and rather shocked, slightly offended, Reena pointed the same finger despite pointing and facing thin air. Scipio was walking away and he had begun to climb a set of stairs.

'Hey wait up!'

Scipio turned around and met Reena's eager face with the barrel of his gatling gun.

'Follow and you shall die.'

Reena gave a whimpering noise before slowly backing away. Behind her, Pyriah had her sword unsheathed and even Yfae had her guns pointed at him.

'It was your fault why we're stuck here.' Yfae said in her calm voice.

'Is it now?' Scipio asked and he lowered his gun. 'Did you not steal enough money so that you could have gotten an airship ride to whatever destination you wanted?'

'What's your point?' Pyriah asked with a cocked eyebrow.

'Meaning, whatever hume blunder you created with your misguided spells is no fault of mine. You Warped yourself here, you get yourself out.' Scipio answered just as shortly.

Identical scowls met Scipio's eyes but he gave a dismissive gesture of his hand, as if clarifying his point. He made to turn once more to proceed but Reena, with her classic stubbornness yelled again.

'You owe us!'

That stopped Scipio in his tracks and he folded his arms at them. 'Pray tell me why?'

Reena, with her face red in rage pointed accusingly at the Judge, all cold forgotten.

'It was your fault why we ran into that kid at Nalbina Fortress. Your fault for not warning us that that kid had some serious back-up!! If you ask me, the gil we got from them is not worth ALL this trouble!!" she yelled the last three words and for a moment, Reena's voice echoed hollowly across the surroundings.

Scipio gave a smile, as if amused by her remarks. 'I find your arguments highly illogical.' He shrugged elegantly. 'It is actually no one's fault.' He ignored Reena's outraged gasp. 'So now that we have established it is actually not my fault, I bid you good day and best of luck trying to get out of Giruvegan.'

'Giruvegan?' Yfae interrupted in surprise. 'The Holy City of the Gods?"

Scipio turned towards Yfae and gave a soft nod to her. 'Very good. Now why can't you be as smart as her?' he asked Reena. 'There's no need for explosive reactions after all.'

'If this is Giruvegan, you must be a God then,' Pyriah said, folding her arms and giving Scipio her steady look. Scipio now turned towards her a smile flitting about his lips, his mask unable to hide the mirth in his blood red eyes.

'Now why do you say that?'

'Only a God can stand to stay here and be unperturbed by its environment.' She gestured over towards Reena's paling skin and Yfae's bluing lips.

Scipio threw his head back and gave a chortling laugh. 'Humes amuse me to no end.' He shook his head and folded his arms and gazed at them with amused eyes. He was silent for a few minutes and Pyriah met his gaze head on. After a few minutes he shrugged and turned towards the steps.

'I should like some entertainment in my journey ahead,' he said over his shoulder at the three young women. ' Follow me if you want to live.'

Without another word, Scipio proceeded up the steps, not turning back to see if they were following. He knew they were.

A/N: This is probably one of the best encounter chapters so far for me...This is major OOC, so if you have any questions, (that won't have me blabbing the whole plot of course) feel free!!