Yay! Positive feedbacks! Thank you!

Yeah… I'm here to say again, that there will be inaccuracies as to my in-game details. That's because I haven't played for YEARS, and the current discs I have refuse to launch.

Battles will be skimmed over, because who wants the same ol' Diablo 2 story? We all know it well enough. This is the story of Celadon, so if you're after hardcore action, this story is not for you. If you don't mind a little autobiographical details, read on and PLEASE review… there's at least over 30 or so people reading this, I know from the stats.

Disclaimer: Blizzard owns everything except Celadon, Oread, and my weird mind… maybe they own that last one, too.

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Chapter 5: Far Away From Home

There were two things I had learnt from the battle with the Countess.

One: In cramped places filled with fast monsters, archery does not really work.

Two: Oread was suicidal.

The only thing that seemed to keep her from flinging herself towards imminent death seemed to be, strangely enough, me; She had been standing in front of me most of the time. Only after clearing out a radius of at least three metres around us with her spear, did she leave me to finish the rest off. Usually, that meant that she took care of mostly Goatmen, while I took down the Dark Archers and Ghosts, when they did pop up.

Those groups of Dark Archers, despite having unhuman blue skin, yellow eyes and blue-black hair, were reminiscent of the groups of Corrupted Rogues I killed back in the Dark Woods. The fact that I took them down without any pause or doubts, the fact that I fires arrow after arrow out of sheer instinct, the fact that I did not feel anything when I slaughtered them, made me feel both stronger and more uncertain. Was this really good for me?

When I speak of it now, nothing arose from my mind or my heart. No emotions.

Now I know. It was not really good for me, but it was what I had to do, as the person I am, the person I was destined to become.

In the Forgotten Tower, we ventured through the first four levels systematically; amazingly, Oread was not seriously hurt in the process, and neither was I. A few red potions, and we were back on our feet. Oread took down the leaders on the first three levels. My body was frustrated for the lack of high-level action. The bloodlust was building up as I witnessed Oread take down the stronger foes.

So when we got down to the fourth level, I went for the leader before Oread could get to it. I took it down quickly enough, retreating all the while to put space between us. Something hit me from behind. Tasting metal in my throat and feeling pain across my back, my body fought the pain to swivel around, planting three arrows into the skull of a Goatman. Warm blood splattered over my face, splashed into my mouth, mingling with my own blood. I swallowed it, like a sweet treat after a child had done something good. I felt… victorious. It was great.

Turning back around, I killed the leader with another few shots, sustaining another two blows to my body. I did not care; the adrenalin, fuelled by the thrill of the action, more than compensated for the physical pain. The leader's frozen head shattered as I took it right off, the pieces of frozen flesh and bone thawing into a pale reddish liquid on the ground.

The body stood for another few seconds before it fell, and when it did, Oread was before my eyes.

That was another time I noted some emotions on her face. It was one of… terror? Puzzlement? Fear? Anger? Whatever it was, I despised it. It turned me into a child who was guilty of something that she had done. I felt as if I did not deserve that treat I had earlier.

'Celadon…' Oread spoke, her voice was controlled, yet her eyes were quivering. 'Don't… EVER DO THAT AGAIN!' It was anger now. 'I told you NOT TO DIE ON ME, REMEMBER? Don't you ever do something so tactless again! You're a long-range fighter, anything close-range is my responsibility! You just stay back and back me up, that's all you need to do!'

'I'm your mercenary.' I replied. 'My responsibility is to protect you, to aid you. Yours, as a warrior, is to take down the Prime Evils, and live to tell about it.' The fire of defiance came into my eyes, as I straightened up. 'I'm not fulfilling my job, and neither are you, if you fight like you did – suicidally, and I stay back to watch you protect me!'

Looking at her face, I saw her features soften, and sorrow replaced her anger. Now her emotions were more explicit than ever. I dropped onto one knee. 'I'm your mercenary, not your apprentice, though I suppose we've both established that, consciously or not. For the sake of anyone who confides in you, including myself, you shouldn't throw all that away so recklessly. I'm the one who's meant to be in the frontlines, preserving your life. If you choose to give yourself away easily, you're not only irresponsible for your own life, but also the safety of the Sanctuary, and my dignity as your mercenary. So let me fight for you, so that you can fight for the Sanctuary.'

My eyes were locked onto hers, seeking out any changes in them; but Oread just blinked them slowly, as her posture slumped. Finally, resecuring her apathetic demeanour, she came up to me and lifted me to my feet, and pushed a round bottle of red potion into my hand. 'This is for you,' she reached into her belt, and pulled out a lightly-crafted, short sword with a thin blade; 'and this. It's nothing fancy but it's well-made. In case you do come into a tight situation, use it to put some distance between you and your enemy before you turn to your bow and arrows. I don't want to see anymore close-quarter arrow fights. Understood?' I nodded as I swallowed the last of the potion, feeling my body quicken in repairing itself. 'Now, let's get this over with.'

The bottom level was full of monsters, and this time, Oread and I took them down side-by-side. She still would not let me get closer to the monsters than she was, but she trusted my abilities more now, I could tell.

We progressed through the chambers, gathering the large sums of gold in each of them all the while. Oread found a better bow for herself, and slung her old bow over her shoulder. 'I'll give this to you later.' She explained.

We moved towards the chamber where the vile aura was at its strongest. As we ran up we heard a loud roar, a deep voice bellowing out inaudible words. I caught the word 'blood'. Oread got up to the small entrance of the chamber and positioned herself, backing the wall and facing the entrance. She nodded at me, and I quickly got behind her, slightly further from the wall, so that I could cover for her, and this position also meant that I could shoot while the enemies were still in the chamber.

Before I even got there, a Goatman charged out. He lashed at me, I dodged, and Oread fired. Straight through the head, in through one temple and out the other. It was dead before it or I knew.

I only took down two monsters. In single-file, the monsters stood no chance against Oread's quick arrows.

Once the line ended, Oread immediately equipped herself with her spear, and charged in, the still-warm bodies squished beneath her boots with the boiling blood soaking into the tough leather. I cringed at the sight, yet, it was soothing to know that I was doing what I was meant to do; I was where I was meant to be.

I followed into the chamber. There was gold on the ground, piles of glittering treasures, guarded by blackened iron bars of prison cells. This was all that I have collected within the millisecond. I soon focused on our current foe – the Countess.

She was not as impressive as I had expected. She looked very much like another Dark Archer, with pale jade-green skin that seemed translucent. Her blood-red eyes glowed, as she charged towards us.

Oread and I attacked together. The Countess was dead within seconds, finished off by another one of Oread's Charged Strikes. It was so easy that I did not believe it at first, and I did not lower my weapon until I realised that Oread had opened a chest and was scooping up handfuls of gold pieces.

'We're gonna quickly go to town and deposit this.' She said, tossing me a blue tome. 'Get everything repaired and give the healer a visit while you're there. Sell your bow; you're having this one from now on.' She moved her left shoulder, her old bow still slung over it.

The bow was longer and heavier than the one I had before, and I was getting used to it as we journeyed across Tamoe Highland. I was getting stronger for sure. I could fire more frequently, and my arrows achieved a further range than I had last observed. Oread was impressed.

After a day of real-life target-practice, with me feeling more and more confident all the while, Oread suddenly offered to teach me the skill of Fire Arrow. I gratefully accepted, but was puzzled as to why I would need it, seeing my Cold Arrows had been so practical.

'We're nearing the Monastery.' She stated, pointing ahead. I could not see anything but a grey shadowing form. Amazonian Inner Sight was more advanced than that of the Rogues'.

However, I understood when I sighted something as I neared the Monastery.

Bodies suspended on stakes. I got closer, and recognised them.

Rogues. Beaten, tortured, cut, bruised, dismembered, disembowelled, beheaded. You name it, they have had it done to them. I took them down at first, but after a few more, I gave up, and simply turned my head away from them. I knew I had to have my mind over the matter for now. If I don't keep my tact over my emotions, I could end up like one of them.

As we got closer to the monastery, there were more and more corpses, and they looked more and more mangled, faces twisted in agony, postures tense with suffering. I tried my best to ignore them, to avoid my eyes reaching theirs, now lifeless, but with horror forever etched into them with blood.

Then suddenly, I turned to one of the corpses. No matter how hard I tried, I could not turn away from it. Even with the many injuries on her, the heavy bruising and swelling, the innards spilling out of her stinking, decaying body, the layer of maroon blood crusting over her body, I could recognise her.

Behind her, as the backdrop of this scene of horror, were the large wooden gates of the Monastery.

The heat, I could feel it within my body, consuming my mind…

Red took over my vision. The vermillion of flames, the crimson of blood, the scarlet of chaos, the solferino of pain.

'Come, girl, we have to go quickly!'

'No! I'm not going without…'

'Celadon, go! I won't allow this to happen to you!'

'But… no! Don't take me away!!'

'You have to stay alive, Celadon! Go now! Get away from here!'

'Don't take me… no! Don't take me away! My mother's still there!'

'Get away from here, Celadon! Don't turn back!'

'You'll only get killed if you stay here. Come with me, we have to get out now!'

'I can't! DON'T TAKE ME AWAY! PUT ME DOWN! MAMA!!!'

Strong hands took me, saved me from the red, grabbed me and pulled me from danger, away from home…

Then there were even stronger hands, hands that pulled me out of my memories, out of the dangers of my mind. The redness was soothed by the greenness of her orbs; the heat of the fire was cooled by the iciness of her face.

Even as my body embraced the grassy earth, I could smell the blood in it, the crimson staining my body. Even as my mind embraced blessed unconsciousness, it could no longer rest in the peace and security of being home.

Because I had never been further away from home.

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Sorry that this took a while to come out, and sorry if the Countess part was anticlimactic… it was anticlimactic for me in the game.

All reviews are appreciated. Just no flames, please, because they don't help anyone.