OoO( 15 )OoO
Lyle smiled as he held the young foreign girl close to him. "Hey, it's been a while." he said.
She held him tightly, wanting to cry, but holding her joy in. "Yeah...it has." she said simply. As she held him, others in the guild walked by and noticed the warriors return. They all greeted him.
"Hey, I have to go back through the gate now..." he said. However, he didn't get to finish his sentence before the girl jumped in.
"I'm going too!" she shouted.
"Uhh...I don't think that's a good..." he said, but immediately shut his mouth. She had looked at him with a dark looked that he learned to fear. It meant that the talking was over. "Alright...I guess it couldn't hurt." he said smiling nervously. "Cummon." Taking her hand, he stepped back into the gate.
The light lifted them both off the ground before the outside world vanished, and again the biting cold air of Snowspire surrounded them. Stepping down from the gateway, the warrior smiled at the others. "Good as new." he said.
Van smirked. "Of course. Was there any doubt?" asked the mage with a pompous air. Alex giggled at his smugness as Lyle crossed his arms.
"I don't know. I was half expecting to come back through in a few pieces." said the warrior. "But you did a good job." he said. Then, he turned to Kiko and motioned her towards the others. The young girl stepped forward, then looked around. A beautiful smiled crossed her face as she looked up into the sky at the falling snow.
"I've never seen something so beautiful..." she said as she stared.
"Well, we better get you inside before you freeze. Those clothes aren't fit for this kind of weather dear." said Alex as she took the girl and led her to a nearby house.
Lyle and Van watched them go with smiles. Then, when they were gone, Van popped a curious question that made Lyle twitch. "So, is that your new girlfriend?" he asked with a smirk.
"Are you insane!?" shouted the warrior.
Van shrugged. "Well, you seem to be pretty close to her. And with as many girls that chase you I can tell that she has something for you." Van teased, elbowing his longtime friend.
However, it seemed as if all the feeling left Lyle. Van took a step back, almost shocked by the change in attitude. "I don't feel for her the way she does for me. The only one..." he said, then stopped.
Van stepped forward as Lyle's head lowered. "I...I'm sorry...I didn't mean..." he said, but the warrior walked away, ignoring the rest of the sentence.
OoOoO
Lyle sat in a house, the fire in the fireplace was billowing and casting dancing shadows all across the room. It was modestly ornamented, with only a bookshelf, a chair, and a bed in the corner with a painting next to the door. It showed a ship plowing through stormy seas, as if it was a nature all its own fighting against the gods will.
He stared into the fire. He felt a wave of confusion crashing inside him. He knew who he loved, but he felt so conflicted having another around. Images of them together flashed through his mind, from the moment they met to all of the things they did as they grew up. He even cracked a smile when he remembered the circumstances on which they had met. He recalled being a young boy and nearly getting taken out by a stray arrow.
But then, his thoughts shifted to the other. He hadn't realized how he felt about her until it was too late. It took her sacrifice to crack the stone around his heart, and because of it he was able to conquer his greatest enemy. Gripping the chair tightly, he shook his head. "I have more important things to be thinking about right now." he said as he got to his feet and stretched his limbs. Walking to the door, he opened it and walked out. Looking up, he smiled grimly at the cloudy sky. "It seems like the sun never rises in this place." he said, then walked around the town.
He made his way back to Scythe's house, but stopped when he saw a familiar figure walking his way. It was Ark, his large sword across his back and his black cloak billowing in the wind. They locked eyes and time seemed to freeze. Both men stopped as they saw each other. The wind picked up and tore at the exposed skin on both of them, but neither moved.
People on the streets walked around the two. Nobody dared to walk between the two. Finally, the dark figure spoke. "Lyle was it?" he asked.
Lyle nodded. "Yes, and you're Ark." said the warrior. "It seems we have a lot of catching up to do."
Smirking, the dark warrior nodded. "But first, we have some business to take care of." he said. Lyle got a curious look across his face. "Oh, you don't know then huh? Well, I'll tell you then. I was brought here to this island because they wanted to protect me from Jack. However, when I was grown enough to fight, I couldn't leave. Then, Jack was defeated." he said.
Lyle was starting to get the picture, but he thought he'd ask anyway. "So, what you are saying is..."
"What I'm saying is that this time, you will not be fighting alone. You've fought him once before, but now that he is here, I will be fighting him every bit as much as you will." said the dark warrior as he walked next to the hero.
Lyle sighed. "Listen..."
"No, you listen..." said Ark as he cut his relative off. "You may think that your grudge against Jack puts some barrier around you making you the chosen one. But you were only chosen to fight him because you weren't found in time. Just because you have already fought and beaten him doesn't mean that you are the only one who can beat him, and it certanly doesn't mean that you are going to be the only one to fight him." snapped the dark hero.
Lyle closed his mouth as his brows dropped irritatedly. He wasn't fond of his new found blood brother, nor did he have the feeling he would be any time soon. However, he knew he was right. "You are right. I always assumed it would be just me because I was the only one. But it seems that even fate has its sense of humor." he said, holding his hand out to the man. "I guess we will be working together then?" he asked. The dark warrior took his hand and they both squeezed, not enough to make the other flinch, but hard enough to let each other know they were serious about everything that was said.
"Indeed we will brother." said Ark, who then smiled. "And the first thing we need to do is see the oracles."
"Oracles?" asked Lyle scratching his head.
The warrior nodded. "The oracles are wise ones who watch over Snowspire. If anybody knows how to defeat Jack, it's them." he said.
"I see. So, to find out more about Jack we have to talk to them?" he asked. "Well, how do we go about doing that?"
"Unfortunately, I can't say. Only Scythe has knowledge of them. He keeps saying that we should only talk to them if its absolutely necissary." Lyle nodded. "So, lets start there." he said. They both turned and walked back towards the center of the town.
OoOoO
"So...what you are saying is that to talk to these oracles...we have to go through a graveyard and dig up old runes?" asked Lyle.
Even Ark had a skepticle look on his face. "Then bring them back here and insert them into the obelisk on the mountainside?"
Scythe nodded. "Each rune holds the spirit of one of the oracles. And none will talk unless all are there." he said.
"So, why are they in a graveyard?" asked Lyle as he scratched his head.
"The oracles are not biased in who they talk to. The knowledge they hold they will share with anyone. So of course they are hidden so that they do not fall into the wrong hands." he said. Lyle and Ark both nodded, understanding. "Oh, one more thing." said the old wizard. They both looked at him. "It isn't a graveyard you will be searching. It's the Necropolis."
"What's the difference?" asked Ark.
"The Necropolis is the city of the dead."
"Wait, city?" asked Lyle astonished. "We are searching through an entire city for these things?"
"I think that should be the least of your worries." said Scythe. "The reason its called the city of the dead, is because the undead literally roam the streets. One of Jack's earlier deads." he said.
"I've handled plenty of undead before." said Lyle smiling confidently. But his smiled faded slightly when he saw the older mans face.
"You will see for yourself what you deal with when you get there. Until then, rest. I will have the gates open by tomorrow morning." he said, then turned and walked out the door.
The two warriors looked at each other nervously. "Knowing what you've done so far and he still thinks you will have trouble?" asked Ark.
"Now I'm worried." said the warrior. "Well, lets get to work." he said, then they both left the house.