Chapter 8: Heirs Of Fate 3: The Changing Tide 2
Tommy, Rachel, Kiki, Susie, and Jesse suddenly found themselves in a dark graveyard, where they were attacked by more invisible soldiers. After fending them off, they cornered some of the invisible soldiers, who happened to be George, Lil, Phil, Kimi, Wally, and Nicole.
"Ha! Revenge is sweet! Let's close in and..." Tommy started to say.
"Hang on. I wouldn't count them out just yet!" Jesse said.
Just then, the invisible Wally and Nicole moved in to support the invisible Kimi.
"They still mean to fight. This will be very unfortunate for one of us." Rachel said.
"We're already at our limits. Let's stand down for now." Susie said.
"No! We're not leaving!" Tommy said.
He moved forward.
"Tommy?" Susie asked in shock.
"No, don't! Come back!" Kiki ordered.
"I won't back down! Not when we've finally got you on the ropes! We're finishing this, right now!" Tommy said. He then turned around and ordered the invisible Kimi "Your going to give me answers, darn it! We've fought too long and lost too much to let it end any other way!".
"Tommy! WATCH OUT!" Kiki called out.
Jesse moved in front of Tommy and took a hit from the invisible Nicole.
"Urghnf!" Jesse cried.
"Jesse? I thought you didn't care about me!" Tommy asked.
"I don't, but it would be bad if I let anything happen to you. Let's get while the getting's good. Nobody here wants to lose someone else they care about today. If you actually plan to win this fight, you won't do it by charging in alone." Jesse replied.
Tommy sighed.
"Yeah, I guess not. That was dumb of me." Tommy said.
"Careful! Their coming for us again!" Susie warned.
The invisible Wally attempted to attack Susie, but Abigail suddenly ran up and blocked the hit. At the same time, Dil showed up as well and blocked a hit to Kiki from the invisible Kimi.
"That was too close! Are you okay, Tommy?" Dil asked.
"Dil? What are you doing here?" Tommy asked in confusion.
"Please hold all your questions until after the mass escape! We know a good place to lay low just over there." Dil replied.
"Yup! Wait until you see it! Francine, can you please heal everyone once we're there?" Abigail asked.
Francine, Prudence, and Harold walked over to them.
"Well, since you asked nicely... judicious retreat / Up and at 'em, everyone / Make a break for it!" Francine replied.
"Awww... I thought we came to play tag, not hide-and-seek." Prudence said in disappointment.
"We'll be facing them again, whether we like it or not. Save it for then." Harold said.
"Okay!" Prudence said excitedly.
The group proceeded to retreat from the battlefield.
Later, the group stopped to rest.
"Hmm, yeah. This should be far enough away to be safe!" Dil announced.
Susie sighed in relief.
"That's a relief. Fortunately for us, our enemy didn't seem to be giving chase." Susie said.
Francine healed everyone's injuries.
"You ought to feel better still now that I've healed your wounds." Francine said.
"Much obliged." Jesse said.
Tommy turned to Abigail.
"Thanks for bailing me out back there." Tommy said.
"Sure thing! I'm glad your okay. Oh, by the way, I'm Abigail. This is Harold, Prudence, and Francine. Did you know Dil already?" Abigail asked.
"Yeah, he's my cousin. I'm Tommy, if you didn't already catch it. The others are Jesse, Susie, Rachel, and Kiki." Tommy replied.
"Um, nice to... meet you." Kiki said.
Prudence frowned.
"Yeah. It's funny, though. I feel like I've met some of you already." Prudence said.
Susie nodded.
"I noticed that. Something about this doesn't feel like our first meeting." Susie said.
"How peculiar / Were we friends in our past lives? / Is it déjà vu?" Francine asked.
Rachel shrugged.
"Your all strangers to me." Rachel replied.
"It's the darndest feeling. Like an itch I can't scratch." Harold added.
"Never mind all that. Where did you guys come from, Dil?" Tommy asked.
"We heard some kind of horrible roaring sound and came to check it out. We sure didn't expect to stumble on you fighting those weird soldiers! I have bad news, though. Something happened to my parents." Dil replied.
"Really? Is Uncle Ben okay?" Tommy asked.
"The same forces your fighting now came to my Deeprealm. My father made sure I got out safe, but... it might have cost him his life... and I'm not the only one, either. All of these folks could say the same thing." Dil replied.
"Us too. Tch... what the heck's going on around here?" Tommy asked.
"Susie said the ones we were up against were acting weird. So I watched closely, and she's right. They aren't like the troops who came for us in our Deeprealms. I was hoping to catch one so we could ask a few polite friendly questions." Jesse replied.
"They did seem more human then the other things we were fighting." Harold added.
"Maybe they were commanders? Though that doesn't square with their behavior." Susie asked.
"Some of the enemies we fought didn't really look like monsters either." Abigail replied.
"Yes. Their tactics were a cut above the usual dash and smash, as well." Francine said.
"Oh yeah? Did you defeat any?" Jesse asked.
"Nah. They got away. We would have gone after them, but some lady told us that wasn't a great idea." Prudence replied.
"Did she say who she was?" Kiki asked.
"No. She was real mysterious. She didn't tell us hardly anything. But she gave me this neat Dragonstone! And she did ask if we thought the enemy seemed weird. Maybe that was her mysterious way of telling us they were human." Abigail replied.
"Why not come to the point and say it?" Rachel asked.
"She had her reasons, no doubt. Maybe it would've done no good to come straight out with it. Come to think, she did say we wouldn't understand if we didn't figure it out." Harold replied.
"Sounds like we'll have to take another crack at them to know for sure." Tommy said.
Abigail smiled.
"Yeah! We'll all find out together!" Abigail said.
"We will?" Tommy asked.
Abigail nodded.
"Yeah! I saw you try to fight that whole army yourself. I was afraid when they attacked you and Jesse. I thought they'd take somebody else like they took my papa. Good thing we saved you, huh? But please don't do that again!" Abigail replied.
"Uhm..." Tommy started to say.
"I'm not one to talk, since I tried to go it alone as well. But think of how bad it could've gone if we hadn't shown up in the nick of time!" Dil said.
Jesse smirked.
"Told you so." Jesse said.
Tommy chuckled.
"Hah. I hate to admit it, but you were right. You've got my word I'll be a little less reckless from now on. Can I count on all of you to be with me in return?" Tommy asked.
"I'd have to be a pretty big jerk to say no, huh?" Jesse asked.
"I'm with you, buddy! With all of us together, we're unstoppable!" Dil replied.
"And I'll help too!" Abigail added.
Tommy smiled.
"This is starting to sound like a plan! Let's get started!" Tommy said.
Suddenly, like Blazing Yumi and Grim Razordark had before, Midnight Skadi started glowing a dark purple color, while Sky Erebus started glowing purple again.
"Huh? Midnight Skadi? NOW what?" Tommy asked.
"Ooh! Blazing Yumi was glowing like this, too!" Dil replied.
"Erebus is glowing again... does that mean it's gonna power up?" Abigail asked.
There was a flash of purple before the glow around Sky Erebus and Midnight Skadi faded. Midnight Skadi looked the same, but Sky Erebus was different again. The blade was slightly more curved, radiated a yellow aura, it had a knuckle guard, and the top two slots on the blade were illuminated yellow.
"Am I seeing things, or did your sword just change shape?" Tommy asked.
Abigail smiled.
"It's really pretty, isn't it? We should call it Flaming Erebus now." Abigail replied.
"Did you just make that up on the spot, or..." Tommy started to ask.
"Nope! The mysterious lady told us this would happen. It's still my papa's sword, but it's changed a lot since I got it." Abigail replied.
"Yeah. You should have seen it before it reacted to Blazing Yumi." Dil added.
Tommy smirked.
"Flaming Erebus... alright, then. Seems like a pretty fitting name. With a blade like that, we'll blaze a trail right through our enemy!" Tommy said.
"I can't wait to save Papa!" Abigail said excitedly.
"Yeah... Alright, we've got the advantage now. This time's for keeps." Tommy said.
Back in the ruined land, Zack was done singing.
"A burdened heart sinks into the ground. A veil falls away without a sound. Not day nor night, wrong nor right. For truth and peace we fight. A song for one who has chosen the difficult path between two chasms." Zack muttered.
"In this world, that path was broken, never coming to its proper end." a voice said.
Mike appeared.
"I know. Which is why you spared me. Thank you, father." Zack said.
"My time is almost up, I'm afraid. I'm sorry to have to lead you down the one path I never wished for you. Before I go, I must teach you the rest of the song." Mike said.
"There's more to it?" Zack asked.
"Yes. When I sang, I failed to use the song's full potential. There is a fourth verse that holds tremendous and dangerous power. I've wondered why I remain here, and I believe it's to teach you that verse. Remember when I told you that you can use the pendant as I could?" Mike asked.
"Yes, but you warned me never to do so." Zack replied.
"There is no other way now. You have more potential within then I ever did. The power flowing through you is equal to that of the ancient Kings and Queens of The Confederacy." Mike said.
"You never told me much of them." Zack said.
"That's a pity. There are wonderful stories of the king from Reptar's time. Mighty Meiko, the first Queen of The Confederacy, was a staunch friend to the dragon. I never knew her except through the songs and portraits, but you have much in common with her... both in appearance and power." Mike explained.
"Then it really must be me?" Zack asked.
"I'm sorry, Zackary. I had hoped you'd never need to learn this verse. If I could, I would have kept it from everyone. It's power is too dreadful. I know firsthand what it will do to you." Mike replied.
"Your worried that I'll fade away. Just like you did?" Zack asked.
Mike was silent for a few moments.
"Yes." Mike replied.
"But that's just one possibility, not the inevitable. I promise I'll succeed, father. I'll save this world. And then everyone who faded away can come back... including you." Zack said.
"I suppose." Mike said.
"Then there's no time to lose. Please teach me the rest of the song." Zack ordered.
Mike nodded.
"One last thing first." Mike said.
"I'm listening." Zack said.
"I love you, Zack. Whatever obstacles lie in the path you've chosen... I'll always be there, helping you over them." Mike said.
Zack raised an eyebrow.
"Your making this sound like the last time we'll speak. If I succeed, we'll see each other again. You weren't misleading me, right?" Zack asked.
"Perish the thought, Zack. Your completely right, of course. I'm not going anywhere. Even if my body decays or my mind fails, I live on in someone's memory. Every time you remember me, you call me there to your side." Mike replied.
"I'll hold you to that, father." Zack said.
"I'll sing the rest of the song for you now. Now listen carefully..." Mike started to say.