A/N: Hallo! XD Sorry I haven't updated in a while... I think you'll understand why, though... *points to heaps upon heaps of homework*
Anyway, in this chapter; COMEBACK BABEH, HELL YEAH! *shoved with a box of cookies*
Ya, ok then, let's start!
Warning and Disclaimer: Kindly look at the first chapter, please~
Enjoy~!
Chronicles of the Drowned City
C.25: Oceanmaster Ketos
"...I see."
"So, what do you think we should do now?"
"For now, you should head back and rest. We'll look some more on this floor," ordered Kujura.
"What's there to look at here?" asked the Princess.
"That bead you have with you. It has something to do with this floor, I'm sure. If what you heard is true, then that bead controls a mechanism that's on this floor as well."
"And... you'll be looking into this youself?" Kujura nodded.
"As I said, yes. Since this 'Oceanmaster' decided it shall greet you, and you only, it's best that you head back and prepare. I'll report on my findings by about tomorrow morning." Heinrich nodded. He then fished out an Ariadne Thread, and warped his group back to Armoroad.
As they silently walked back to the inn, Adisa sighed.
"You know... I'm wondering if we should really do this..."
"Hm?" Adisa turned towards Heinrich.
"Well, see, I uh... I've been thinking... yeah, sure, that city may be ancient, we may be able to oh, I dunno... make relations with them and stuff, but if what Yuki said is right, then... should we really be meddling with their own business? I mean, their problems are their own. It's not like we could do anything to help them..." Heinrich nodded in understanding.
"I understand where your getting at, my lady, but we've already involved ourselves too deep in this. We might as well go through with it." Adisa suddenly kicked Heinrich on the shins.
"Hey, did I NOT tell you a thousand times NOT to call me 'my lady'?!" The Princess pouted. She really didn't like being called that...
"Arrgh... y-yes, forgive me, Adisa..."
As the group reached the inn, they noticed the innkeeper's unusually bright face.
Noticing the group entering, the innkeeper ran up to them.
"Hey boss, good news!"
"What is it?"
"Zakharia and Ribu, was it? They're getting better! In fact, sis says Zakharia's ready to explore again!" Adisa's face too, brightened, as she ran towards the infirmary, noticing Zakharia sitting on the bed, reading a scroll.
The Princess lauched herself at the girl, to which the Zodiak nearly dropped the otherwise quite elaborate looking scroll.
"Waugh!"
"Zakharia, your ok!" Adisa tightened her hold on Zakharia, narrowly crushing the Zodiak.
"H-Help... can't... breathe...!"
"O-Oh, right! Sorry...!" The Princess let go of the Zodiak, the girl doubling over a bit, gasping for air.
"So... what're you reading there?"
"*cough* Hm? Oh, it's... a scroll, for a fire spell. 'Hellfire', I think it's called." Zakhaira grabbed around the air for her scroll, before finding it, still sitting safely on her lap.
"Whoa, hold up there a sec... not to be rude, but how can you read that?"
"I... got a few versions of the scroll... there's one for blind people, which is the one I'm holding right now." Adisa nodded.
"I need a partner to cast the spell with though-"
"I'll volunteer!" Zakharia blinked a bit. That was... Cia's voice, wasn't it?
"Uh... ok. H-Here..." The Zodiak hands over another version of the same scroll to Cia, the scroll narrowly hitting Adisa's face as Zakharia tried to find Cia's hands. She then felt someone grab the other end of the scroll.
"Alright, I'll study it as soon as I can. Thanks!" Cia happily took the scroll and stowed it away inside her robe.
"Alright, good night..." Zakharia then rolled up the scroll, and lied back down on her bed, going to sleep. The group exited the room, getting their room key from the innkeeper.
Hours passed by, and most of the group had fallen asleep.
Heinrich, again, went out to the post office, finding soon that yes, while they were away inside the Labyrinth, Prince Johan had writen his reply.
He went back to the Guild's room, putting the letter on the desk, near where Adisa's sleeping.
Elsewhere, at the Inver Port, Cia gazed silently at the school fish swimming within the waters, daring to get close to fisherman territory. She sighed. What happened today is really starting to sink in...
Not only did she let her anger take control of her, she lead the others into danger! Things could've been worse if Yuki wasn't there...
Hm... speaking of Yuki, maybe she should apologize to him...
"Cia." Oh. Speak of the devil.
"H-Huh? Oh, h-hey, bro..." The Monk sighs as she dropped quite a big piece of bread into the waters, the fishes immediately devouring it.
The two stayed quiet as they looked at the fishes eating the bread. Cia, again, sighed.
"Hey, uh... sorry about just now..." Yuki shrugged.
"It's ok, you were angry, I understand. I may be your step brother, but I've known you since you were still just a small kid. Your impulsive." Cia chuckled a bit, playfully hitting Yuki on the shoulders.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I need to work on that little part of me, I know. So... what are you doing out here?"
"...Just taking a small stroll around town. Kujura just filed in his report, apparently." Cia perked up a little bit.
"Really?! What did he find?!" Yuki was about to lecture Cia again before he noticed the glint in her eyes. There was no malign intent behind her question. Just pure curiosity.
The Shogun sighs, turning his back on his step sister as he walked away.
"I'll tell you tomorrow. Now c'mon, you, of all people need to rest." Cia sighed, tuning back to look at the school of fish, waiting for more food to land on their mouths.
The Monk chuckled a bit, as she ripped the rest of the bread apart, throwing small pieces of it into the deep, dark blue sea.
Yuki turned to look back at his sister. He smiled gently as he looked at Cia, playfully feeding he fishes.
Good. Looks like she really has calmed down now.
The sun rose. Lights flicker off, one by one, and eyes open to the new day.
The Zephyr Guild, or at least the Labyrinth exploration group, had prepared for their toughest mission yet. Today, they shall confront the being which calls itself 'Oceanmaster Ketos'.
Yuki then briefed everyone on what Kujura told him the night before when he happened to pass by Yuki.
"This bead here, just as Kujura suspected, controls a sort of mechanism on the second stratum. Preferably, those currents we were forced to navigate through when we entered."
"Oh... those... so wait, we use that bead, and-"
"Exactly. We use this on the central mechanism and we can control the currents," concluded the Shogun.
"Wait, so that means we can just 'turn off' the currents or something?" Yuki nodded.
"Oh, thank goodness... I thought we'd have to go through all that just to get to that thing...," said the Princess as she breathed a sigh of relief.
"U-Um..." The group turned to see Zakharia, looking well, carrying her book with her, as well as a bag of supplies, ready to go.
"C-Can I come...?"
"You sure? Your not still feeling sick, right?" asked the Monk. The Zodiak shook her head.
"If your sure... don't push it though, you just recovered, after all." Again, Zakharia nodded.
"Alright, so we're set to go?" They all then heard the sound of heavy metal boots colliding with the wooden floors. Heinrich then busted into the room, having trouble fitting himself into the small door frame due to the new, thicker looking armor he's currently wearing. Or rather, the old, but refined armor.
"Nngh, I just talked things over with the Senatus –rrgh, good lord- so we're set to go at any ti-waugh!" And then Heinrich's face collided with the wooden floor. Adisa chuckled.
"Haha, where did you get that armor, Heinrich? Looks thick as hell!" Heinrich stood up, grunting in agony as he did, rubbing his sore face.
"Well now... I'll have to take off my armor once we're back at the inn from now on..."
"Hey, Zakharia said she'll be coming with you guys?" Adisa nodded.
"I'll stay behind and gather materials, then! We found quite a few spots, right?"
"Yeah, but do you remember where they are?" Guad nodded.
" 'K then. Stay safe though, alright?"
After a few more minutes of preparing, the group set out towards the Labyrinth.
They went down towards the 7th floor, going through one looping path in the map, where they found a hidden path. They went through it, finding a weird looking mechanism, entangled by blue sea weed. Yuki walked over to it, inserting the shimmering Sea Bead into the mechanism, the mechanism stopping all of a sudden.
"So... did the thing just shut down?"
"Maybe... I don't hear the currents anymore." Everyone turned towards the Zodiak.
"You... don't hear the currents anymore? Are there any currents near here?" Zakharia shrugged.
"...How good is your hearing?" Cia though, didn't get an answer. Instead, Zakharia merely turned back and walked off, trying to find a wall she could use as a guide. Yuki walked over to the girl and grabbed her hand.
"C'mon..." said the Shogun as he started walking, the others chasing after him.
Once they were done with that, the group pressed on, reaching the stairs to the 8th floor.
They went down, only to be greeted by more monsters. Starfishes, and such.
"Won't these things just go away?!" said Adisa as she thrusted her 5th starfish right through it's head.
"No, I don't think so... they don't call this place dangerous for nothing, you kno- Ah!" A coral-like monster suddenly made it's presence known right in front of Cia's face. Almost immediately, she bashed it with her mace.
The assault dealt with, the group, again, pressed on, only to be greeted with more monsters.
"D-Dang it... at this rate, we'll... we'll be going into K-Ketos' chamber like... fish out of a pond..." It was evident to all by now that simply getting to the Oceanmaster's chambers will be a trial in itself.
Though this didn't stop them. The group soldiered on, bent on finding this city.
As Heinrich mapped, he suddenly felt a kind of presence in the air. He turned, only to see a turtle, headed straight towards them.
"Watch out!" The group turned to see where Heinrich was looking before they dodged, narrowly avoiding the turtle's spiked shell.
Ahem, steel spiked shell, I mean.
Zakharia though, managed to quickly dispatch it using a thunder spell, after all, from her knowledge, things like these are usually impervious to physical attacks, but severly weak against a certain element.
The giant, steel shelled turtle plummeted onto the ground, shell intact. Adisa went to it and tried to sever the shell from it's body, but to no avail.
"Um... a little help?" The others went over to it, and, after pulling and cutting some more, they managed to harvest the old, steel shell.
Pressing on, the group spotted more of those crocodile like monsters. Despite the fact that they managed to get rid of one when Olympia was cornered, fighting it, to them at least, would still be against their better judgment. After all, they are going to fight an 'Oceanmaster'. They'll have to avoid as many fights as they can and get there in as good of a shape as they can be.
Avoiding those monsters and finding shortcuts that conveniently lead past those things, the group finally arrived at the door leading to the Oceanmaster's lair. They stood right in front of it, already feeling the Oceanmaster's powerful presence.
This'll be their toughest battle yet.
"Alright, everyone ready?" The group hesitated to answer, though it was evident that they all needed at least a little breather.
"... We'll take a short break here, if we need to."
"Your call, Heinrich... Though yeah, I would really love a break...," said the Princess sheepishly as she smiled.
"Alright, we'll rest up here for a minute." The group immediately took their spots on the ground, Cia lying down on the sea's floor, studying the scroll Zakharia gave to her.
"Have you studied it yet, or... are you just starting now?"
"Hm?" Cia turned towards the Zodiak, an eyebrow raised.
"Of course I studied it. I'm just reviewing it right now." Zakharia nodded. Somehow, she had a feeling fire will be the key to winning this one. Even the stars hinted that as well in her sleep.
After a while, Heinrich stood up, looking fully refreshed.
"Alright, I think we should be good. Got any plans on how to fight this thing?" Yuki shrugged, knowing that question to be directed at him.
"We're headed into this blind, then..." Heinrich walked towards the door, taking a deep breath before opening the door, which is surprisingly a lot heavier than the other ones in this startum so far.
Once the door was fully opened, they saw the Oceanmaster himself inside.
...Or rather, itself.
The Oceanmaster, apparently, is a whale, but a damn majestic one. A wise aura surrounded it, even as it sat there, unmoving, in the middle of the room. It's gaze, though looking dull, is actually sharp, looking as if it's piercing right into the very core of th group's souls. Splendor and brilliance brimmed from it's presence alone.
"Oceanmaster Ketos?"
"Yes. I see you took on our challange." The forest felt as if it shook a bit as the Oceanmaster spoke, it's deep, bassy, but clear as crystal voice reverbreating in the air.
"I must admit, your resolve is quite magnificent. But your journey ends here. Rejoice, for I, Oceanmaster Ketos, shall be your final opponent!"
"You ain't gonna let us take a break, aren't you...?" uttered Adisa, weakly, as the Whale let out an ear-piercing battle cry. The rest of the group got into their respected stances, Yuki immediately beginning his analysis, as the Whale began swimming about, gaining speed quite fast.
It then swam at rapid speed, charging towards the Zodiak, who's preparing a spell.
Heinrich, though, acted, and parried the attack, suspending the Oceanmaster mid-charge, getting pushed back himself.
Zakharia, following the star's hint and her own gut feeling, casted a fire spell. A rune formed on the Oceanmaster as fire sprouted out of it, the Whale stopping it's charge, writhing about as it's skin began to darken, the heat scorching it.
Well. We'll go with the usual plan then.
"We'll have to do this just like with that Narmer thing..."
"Sorry?"
"Adisa, you go and imbue our weapons with fire. Can you do that?" Adisa nodded.
"Yeah, though it might take a bit... I haven't fully mastered that one yet."
"Better than nothing, I guess..." Yuki then turned towards Heinrich.
"Heinrich, cover for Zakharia while she prepares fire based spells!" Heinrich nodded, getting into position, as Zakharia began preparing another spell.
"And we'll bash at the thing?" asked Cia as she watched the Oceanmaster swim about.
"Fine. But just be ready in case any of us needs healing." Yuki then got his own katana ready, watching the Oceanmaster's movements.
Right now, it's swimming out of the group's reach, possibly trying to recover.
But no, it doesn't look like it's recovering...
Yuki suddenly leapt off the ground as spikes of ice pierce the ground, narrowly stabbing the Shogun.
Ketos then took this chance to ram Yuki onto the wall. And ram him, it did.
Yuki's back collided hard with the left wall of Ketos' chamber, Cia immediately sending healing qi right at the Shogun, healing him.
All the while, another rune formed on the Oceanmaster, again, bursts of flame sprouting out of it, burning the Whale's skin.
Quickly, Yuki recovered, and as the Oceanmaster writhed under the intense heat, letting out ear piercing screams all the while, Yuki grabbed his katanas and swiped at it, gashes beginning to form on the Oceanmaster's white skin, scales sticking onto the sword mixed with blood.
Adisa, finally done chanting, casted the enhancement spell on Yuki's katana. Each swipe the Shogun does now is accompanied with trails of fire, appearing in it's wake.
The Oceanmaster suddenly reeled back, as more shards of ice pierced the ground, Yuki and Cia jumping out of the way.
"What is it with this thing and ice shards?!" whined the Monk as she jumped out of another ice shard's way.
Annoyed, the girl ran towards the Oceanmaster, skillfully dodging the incoming spikes of sharp ice, her weapon imbued just in time as she waved it, bashing the Oceanmaster's chest area.
Adisa doubled over a bit, beads of sweat beginning to trail down her face.
"Oh man... this is harder than I thought..." She took a deep breath though, as she stood to her full height again, chanting, planning on imbuing her own weapon.
Zakharia too, doubled over. She looks worse for wear. Her complexion already looks pale as sweat drips from her forehead.
"I...I'm not sure if I can take this anymore..." Heinrich looked at the girl. Quite a pitiful state she's in right now... maybe they shouldn't have allowed her to come with them.
Then again, the Zodiak did have her own measure of stubbornness.
Zakharia held out a shaky hand, attempting to cast another spell, adjusting it's power to her own condition.
But if she does that, the spell would be weak then.
Well, anything's good right now. At least she can scorch that thing some more.
"Zakharia, don't push yourself! If your tired, then take a small breather. I'll cover for you while you do that." The Zodiak though, shook her head a no, as she casted the spell, flames scorching the Oceanmaster for the third time now, Yuki and Cia still engaging it in close combat.
Noticing the tired looking Zodiak, Yuki quickly tossed over a bottle of Amrita, Heinrich catching it just before it hit the ground.
"Have her use that! It should help her recover faster!" said Yuki, as he dodged another incoming ram from the Oceamaster.
Heinrich nodded, giving the small bottle to Zakharia.
"Here, use it." Zakharia nodded, gladly taking the small bottle, opening it immediately, drinking the contents.
Feeling at least slightly refreshed, the Zodiak went to work again, casting more spells, just a bit weaker than the first few she casted.
Burning hot katanas and flaming maces swiped and bashed at Ketos, flaming hot gashes and burnt bruises forming on the Oceanmaster one by one, it's majestic skin now covered in soot, stained, as blood trickled from the wounds, painting it's once clean, open lair red.
Ketos has had enough.
It suddenly charged forward, swimming at rapid speed, unlike ever before, shards of ice following it in it's wake, hitting Yuki and Cia, who were in it's way, ramming them against the wall, shards of ice managing to graze the two.
It swiped it's tail, right at Adisa just as she was done imbuing her weapon, to which she very narrowly dodged, a small cut forming on her cheek.
It swiped, rammed, trying to hit the group as shards of ice appeared, jutting out of the ground.
It then went towards Zakharia, who's the source of the flames burning the Whale. If she's rid of, then even with fire imbued on their weapons, the group won't stand much of a chance...!
Heinrich, having no time to prepare, used his own body as a shield. The armor should do good in at least minimizing the damage dealt.
The Oceanmaster's face collided with, not the girl's body, but the Hoplite's thick, heavy armor, sending him flying onto the wall.
Right as the Oceanmaster recovered, Zakharia casted another fire spell, again, scorching it.
Cia sent healing qi towards Heinrich, who stood up, using his spear to help him.
Ketos shook what's left of the flames around him though, quickly swimming away, high into the top of his lair, which is to say, the top of the sea itself.
It stayed up there, getting an attack ready.
'What the hell are you trying to—Shit!' But, the Shogun realized it all too late. The group only managed to narrowly dodge the incoming attack as sharp ice jutted out all over the ground, covering the entire lair itself.
Scratches and puncture wounds form around the group, blood spilling out of them.
Having no mercy, the Oceanmaster went on the offensive. It swam down from above, gaining speed and momentum, as it used that momentum to attack the group.
It went on an all out frenzy. It swiped it's tail, rammed it's head, did everything it could to damage the group as much as it can.
There was no way in hell that he was going to allow these people go into the Deep City.
Cia and Yuki both got the worst of the beating though. They felt broken all over, and frankly, maybe they really have broken a few things.
The rest of the group got up, as painful as it may be.
"Someone... cover for me...! I-I'll heal you guys!" Yuki stood in front of his sister, bracing himself in case he had to take more hits from the Whale.
More flames sprouted out of runes, as Zakharia casted yet another fire spell at the Oceanmaster, despite how bad she looked, Heinrich still standing in front of her, recovering, as well as steadying himself to take more hits and defend the girl.
Adisa merely stood there, getting her weapon ready. The Oceanmaster had stopped moving, but who knows what it's preparing right now.
Suddenly, more shards of ice pierced the ground as Ketos went into another frenzy. Adisa narrowly dodged the assault as she looked at he ground, as more ice appeared everywhere.
"Oh no, you don't!" She charged, despite her wounds, bracing her weapon defiantly, dodging the ice shards.
Letting out a cry, she quickly swiped her weapon, a new, burning gash forming on the Oceanmaster's already beaten looking body, blood trickling down from it almost immediately.
Just then, a rush of energy went through her. Cia had casted her healing qi, distributing it to everyone. Yuki's weapon still imbued with fire, he readied it as he watched Adisa swiping at the whale.
"Cia, you really have studied that scroll, right?"
"W-Wait, you sure?" said the girl, catching on immediately to what Yuki's trying to say. "I mean, Zakharia may not be strong enough to do it!" Yuki turned towards his sister.
"I'm no expert in spellcasting, but I'm guessing that if two people cast one spell together, then they basically share their energy while casting it, right?" Cia nodded, albeit a bit confused. It then hit her.
"Wait, you mean... Ah, I see..! Alright, just stall that thing for a few minutes!" The Monk then ran off, headed towards Zakharia and Heinrich.
Yuki turned back towards the scene, the Princess now having trouble trying to hit the Whale.
Shards of ice now form around them as Ketos is preoccupied with Adisa, the girl dodging it's assault, albeit getting grazed ever so slightly by the ice shard. Adisa landed a few hits on the whale while dodging though.
Yuki took this chance to sneak up behind Ketos, nimble steps sending him behind the Oceanmaster. He leapt, katanas ready in hand, swiping at the Oceanmaster's back, a huge, deep, burning gash forming, blood trailing down as huge pools formed under Ketos. Yuki then saw an unfamiliar looking rune on the ground.
Cia and Zakharia casted the fire spell, dubbed "Hellfire"! Right before the rune activated, Yuki used the Oceanmaster's body as a sort of foothold, nimbly jumping out of harm's way as huge bursts of flame sprouted, growing so big, the intense heat could be felt throughout this whole lair, and the seemingly cool, undersea Labyrinth suddenly became one huge pot of boiling hot water, the flames turning into a raging inferno as the Oceanmaster burned, it's skin darkening into ash, it's blood running dry.
Finally, after what seemed to be a long while of watching the Whale burn, the flames dissipated, the Labyrinth turning back into the cool, watery grotto it should be, the Oceanmaster now lying there, on the floor, one huge pile of burnt flesh.
"...Forgive me, my Lord... I was unable to... defend our pact..." The voice didn't come from the Oceanmaster himself though, rather, it came from the group's own heads. Huh... weird. What pact would that be?
Though they weren't given a chance to ask as the Oceanmaster speaks out what would be his last words, despite it's now deformed, burnt looking self.
"Little...no, Grand Ones. I shall bar your way no further. You... have proven yourself. Go, enter our city... and find the truth. Speak to the Abyssal King. Learn of... our reasons for occluding it... I wish only for you to choose wisely, and bring salvation upon hearing of our story..." With this, the Oceanmaster closes it's eyes, falling into it's final slumber.
The group stood there, clutching onto various wounded areas as they watched the Oceanmaster fade away. Some of their wounds run deep, blood rapidly flowing out of it.
Heinrich fished out an Ariadne Thread, and, without the group's consent, warped them out of there.
Well, as much as they want to find this city, they are in a horrible shape.
And hell, even if the way forward is clear, who knows what'll greet them in there?
-To Be Continued-
A/N: URGH DAMMIT A FUCKING MOTIVATIONAL BLOCK IN THE MIDDLE OF WRITING THIS. A FUCKING MOTIVATIONAL BLOCK. HOW IN THE NAME OF FUCK DOES THAT EVEN HAPPEN?
Ahem, ranting aside, wow, I did horrible with the fight scene here... I'm kindda confused as to how to write Ketos fighting. I dunno, I just kindda imagine a giant whale ramming at people if it wanted to XDD
Anyway, yes people, as some of you may have suspected, Yuki and Cia are step siblings. If you guessed it, then good for you! If you haven't, then... hehe XD
Anyway, guess that's all ^^
And now I shall upload this *sneaks into FFN*