OoO( 8 )OoO

Finally, she had finally reached the last clue. Alex stared at the parchment she had written the clue on and contemplated while walking towards the guild.

You will find what you seek, in the place of a heroes rebirth.

Ask for what you desire in front of the nameless hero.

She kept running it through her mind. "Place of heroes rebirth..." she said to herself. "Does he mean the sacred chamber? Thats where apprentices are deemed full heroes, but that is a birth, not a rebirth." she said. Suddenly, she looked up and her face lit up when she saw the hero walking towards her. Lyle was walking with a group of people, the ones she had seen with him at Hook Coast.

At the moment, he was laughing and talking with two of the guys. Finally, the hero looked up and noticed her. Smiling, he ran to her. "Alex, there you are." he said stopping in front of her. "The guildmaster said you ran off into the woods. Was something wrong?" he asked.

She shook her head, getting fidgety in front of him. "Umm...no. I was just looking for something..." she said, unused to having him around again. She was starting to feel like when she had first met Lyle. The feeling of butterflies, of laughing too much at something that wasn't funny, and of the blood rising into her face. He smiled at her and lifted her chin.

"I'm glad to see you again, really." he said. She smiled back at him and took her hand over his, pressing it to her cheek.

"Me too..." she said finally. Then, remembering her quest, she took the book and opened it. "Hey, do you know what the place of a heroes rebirth is?" she asked. Lyle looked at her in surprise, then thought about it. His eyes opened suddenly as he remembered his past conversation with his father.

"When humans die, they are reborn as guardians of the living. I was reborn to watch over you, your mother, and your sister. And some day, you will be reborn after your death to watch over those you love. It's the reward of those with noble hearts."

"Actually...I do." he said. Alex grabbed him and began shaking him.

"Where! I must know!" she shouted wide eyed. Then she let him go and turned slightly red. "Sorry...its just really important." she said.

He laughed lightly at how excited she was. "It's a cemetary. It's believed that when humans die, they are reborn as guardians of the living. So the place of rebirth for heroes would be the guild cemetary." he said. She smiled at him. Grabbing his head, she pulled him down to her and kissed him. He was taken completely by surprise. Grabbing his hand, she began pulling him along with her.

"Come with me!" she said. Lyle stumbled after her, waving goodbye to his previous company.

OoOoO

Van stared at the horizon as the sun began to rise for the day. A crowd of people was watching as he stood staring at a cliff wall in Lookout Point, as well as Briar Rose. The statue behind him, the creator of the guild held his sword high. The sun rose higher and he crouched as if ready to run. Finally, when he knew the sun was in the right position, he immediately sprinted forward, the time around him slowing to nearly a halt at his power. He ran straight for the cliff face, when suddenly the sun reached the tip of the sword and a dark doorway appeared in the stone.

To the eyes of the civilians, Van had vanished into thin air. A gasp arose from all their mouths as they stood astonished. Rose stood with her mouth gaping, then walked forward and patted the wall. "Where did he go?" she asked.

When Van burst through the other side of the doorway, he was surprised to find himself inside a large chamber. He was standing on a platform that seemed to be floating inside some dark abyssmal room. Surrounding the small island where five crystal shaped tombs, holding cloaked figures each surrounded by darkfalls. He looked around at the hooded figures trapped inside the crystals. "What is this place?" he asked. Suddenly, to his surprise someone responded.

"This is the Chamber of the Sages." said a voice. Van looked around at the men in the crystals around him. "If you have entered this chamber, then you seek the fireheart."

"Yes…I am looking for the fireheart." Said Van. "I have come here at the request of Scythe. Where can I find it?" he asked.

"It won't be that easy hero. You must take the pass the trial in order to get the fireheart." Said one of the sages.

Van sighed. "I didn't think it would be so easy…" he said. Standing straight, he glared. "Fine. What do I have to do?" he asked.

"You must complete the puzzle…" said one of the sages. As soon as he finished talking, the floor under the mage lit up. "You see suns and moons. You must match all of the tiles as one. But you must choose wisely, because either the sun, or the moon will lead to your death." Said the voice in a mocking tone.

Van looked at them surprised. "Scythe didn't say anything about this…" he said to himself. "Fine, I have to get the fireheart if we want to stop Jack…" he said.

"So be it. Finish the puzzle hero. And make your choice." Said another voice. Van became surrounded by darkness and the tiles appeared in front of his face, though smaller than usual. He touched one of them with the moon on it and it flipped over to the sun. All four of the tiles surrounding it changed into the opposites of what they were, as well as the tiles on the floor.

"Great…" he said sighing. "What did I get myself into this time…?" he asked, then began to concentrate on the puzzle. Choosing between the two, he decided to change them all to suns.

OoOoO

"The nameless soldier…" said Lyle as he stood in front of a tomb with no name. There were tombs on either side of it, both with the names of Agrias the Paladin and Rokjon. Lyle moved forward and pushed to door in. It slowly creaked forward, allowing light into the darkness. Shadows scattered as the sunlight pierced the emptiness.

Alex followed him in and looked forward into the tomb. There was a statue in the center of the tomb with rows of soldiers on either side of him. They approached and looked at him. Lyle gasped as he immediately recognized the statue. "What is it?" asked Alex.

"It's…Avo…" he said looking at the armor and helmet that were trademark to the legendary warrior. He looked down at the statues hand, seeing a large sword held there. But it wasn't made of stone as the statue was. It's handle was ivory white with intricate carvings down the hilt. Lyle reached forward and took the blade from his hand and held it in front of his face, admiring the blade.

"Hmmm…" he said as he looked at the metal closely.

"What's wrong? Is that it?" asked Alex as she approached. Lyle took the end of the blade in one hand and the handle in the other, the snapped the metal over his knee. Alex gasped in horror. "Lyle! Why did you do that!?" she shouted at him.

"If this was a legendary weapon, it wouldn't have broke." He said as he looked down at the handle. The blade parts fell from his hand and from the hilt. He sighed. "It looks like we can't rely on the weapon…" he said as he walked past Alex, handing her the weapons now empty hilt with a disappointed look on his face. He made it to the door of the tomb when he stopped, hearing Alex gasp behind him.

He turned around and his eyes widened at what he saw. The hilt of the weapon began to morph and change shape. Two long arching shafts appeared from the top and bottom of the weapon, forming a bow shaped weapon with the symbol of the gods on the hand guard of the hilt. He stared in awe as the simple handle changed into a giant ivory bow with a silver cord going from the tip of one arch to the next.

Alex stared at the new holy weapon with shock in her eyes. She lifted it in her hand and felt it was light as a feather. Pulling the string back, an arrow appeared on the cord, made of a dark hardened wood with a silver tip and feathery tail.

Lyle walked back over to Alex and stared at it with her. She released the arrow and it was as if all the air had been sucked out of the room and followed the arrow. It flew and flew, never to be seen again. "How…?" asked Alex as she stared at it once more.

Lyle held out his hand. "Let me see it…" he said, and the girl handed him the weapon. Almost immediately after it left her hand, it changed back into the sword handle that Lyle had pulled from the statue. He examined it thoroughly before asking, "Why doesn't it work for me?"

"Only the pure of heart may find the weapon…" she said. Lyle looked up at her questioningly. "We found Maze's journal in his room, which led us to find the weapon here. He also wrote that only the pure hearted could find it." She said. Lyle looked at the weapon again, then handed it to her. The transformation took place once more and the hero was once again holding the large ivory bow.

Lyle smirked. "I guess it likes you better." He said amused. "Well, in anycase, we found the weapon that you were looking for. What else was there to find?" he asked.

"Van and Briar Rose are looking for something called the fireheart. It supposedly is the only thing that can get us to Snowspire, where Jack is to be reborn." She said. Lyle was about to question her when he was cut off. "We don't know how it will help, but Maze's journal also said that it was required for the journey." She said, putting the bow to her side, where it transformed back into the sword hilt. "We should go find Van." She said. Lyle agreed, and together they left the tomb, locking it again and heading back for the guild.

OoOoO

Briar Rose stood outside the cliff face with Van. She watched as he looked at the position of the sun. Suddenly, Van crouched, then vanished from sight. Rose gasped, then ran to the cliff face he had been looking at. "Where did he go?" she asked. Then, she was alerted as Lyle and Alex ran up behind her.

"Rose!" shouted Lyle as he approached. She turned and looked at him, then glared.

"Well well, if it isn't the great Lyle the Saber." She said. "Or should I say Lyle the Jester?" she asked with a smug look.

The hero smirked and countered her remark. "Listen Grim Rose, at least I only acted like a fool, and wasn't born one." He said. This stung her and she reached for her sword. Lyle raised his hands. "Hey, I wasn't serious, take it easy…" he said, causing her to cross her arms. "Do you know where Van is?" he asked.

She sighed. "Honestly, no. He was standing here a moment ago, then he just vanished." She said. Looking at the hero, she laughed at the stupid look on his face. "Believe me, I am just as confused as you are." She said amused at him.

"How could he just vanish?" he asked.

"Not sure, but he did. He said he was told by some spook named Scythe that the fireheart was here. Gone batty if you know what I mean." She said elbowing the hero.

"Not as batty as you'd think." Said a voice behind them. They all turned to see a triumphant smirking Van, and in his hand was a ruby the size of an apple that was glowing red as blood.