A silken room, outfitted with all luxuries, with silver tassels and delicate embroidery, with a paper screen set with peach blossoms, and the figure of a man who sat just on the other side.
Into this room came Zheng and Wang who each carefully laid the spoils of their latest pillage in a pile near the door.
"Lord Wako…" Wong said humbly, "The treasures which we found in the intruder's camp have all been brought to you. Peruse them at your leisure."
"Excellent." Their leader said,"And for your next mission, you must track down their ship. Interrogate a few if you must. I will not allow these little grass snakes to take away my future kingdom."
"As you command, Lord Wako." They said, and they backed out and closed the door, causing a change in the air that ruffled the drapes lightly. Silence reigned, until the man stepped out from beyond the screen, surveying his newest haul solemnly. He reached down to pick up an item from the pile.
"How interesting…"
…
The four were crouched on the edge of a balcony, looking out on what appeared to be a small town. Only, the inhabitants appeared to be strictly raiders and pirates and the only businesses were inns and restaurants. It appeared that the fortress was more than just a deterrent and a watch tower, but a garrison for the sailors as well.
"Should we try and mingle?" Procyon asked.
"Idiot, they'd spot us a mile away." Egil replied, "Besides, I don't think they're going to help us find the prisoners."
Procyon sighed, "What're we here for then?"
"Shh." Til said, "We can see the harbor from here. There are a lot of warships."
"Yeah, a lot more than Caldisla could take on." Egil said, and then his eyes widened. "Hey, what if we lit their fleet on fire? That would stop the raids!"
"No fire." Sylvie replied.
"Aw come on, why not? That would solve all of Caldisla's problems!"
"No fire." She repeated sternly. Egil grumbled but did not pursue the subject.
"It would delay the danger, it's true." Til said, "But Caldisla would still be at risk of attack, either after these pirates rebuilt their fleet or when another raiding party took interest." He shook his head, "Right now we just need to get back and warn the King. Then we can take proper defensive measures."
"First we have to get your crew back." Procyon said, "So let's keep looking for the dungeons!"
Sneaking throughout the fortress they kept looking. However, they could find no sign of their allies. Eventually they reconvened again.
"Ok, we've pretty much covered the lower half of this place, and everything above is the watchtower part." Egil said, "They must have taken their prisoners somewhere else."
Procyon snapped his fingers, "The mines! I'll bet they would have been taken there. It's not very far."
"Unless they've already been loaded onto a ship." Said Til. "Which is another reason not to destroy the fleet yet."
"That'd be bad…" Egil inhaled sharply, "But it's possible. How's about we split up and investigate both locations?"
"Rescuing your friends is not the only reason we are here." Sylvie replied after a pause, "Procyon and I have a mission as well. There is a being here that we must confront."
"Can't that wait?" Egil asked, "I mean, for all we know they could be doing something terrible to them!"
"I apologize, we don't mean to be rude but Egil has a point." Til said, "Perhaps after we have rescued them we can come back in larger force too and provide more assistance."
Sylvie closed her eyes and replied, "I understand. But there is no telling if we will be able to get back into this fortress once we've left it. They will sharpen their defenses, and we will all be in greater danger. For now, we have the element of surprise."
Egil remained unconvinced. "But more fighters might-"
"More fighters will just get more people killed." Sylvie interrupted. "In any case even if it was just Procyon and I we would still be the only ones fighting this battle." She paused and turned away, "I will not force either of you to come. Do as you wish."
Egil frowned. "Hey, I never said I wasn't going to come."
"What do you mean only the two of you will be fighting?" Til asked curiously. "I thought we agreed to help each other out."
"...It's more complicated than that." She said quietly. "Still, if you will escort us to the top of this tower, it will help us conserve our strength for the battle at least."
The two shared a glance and then nodded to her. "We promised we would help."
"You will have to fight more human enemies… are you prepared for that?"
Til looked down and replied. "It's not like if we walk away there's not going to be blood spilled. We will try not to slow you down."
"S-speak for yourself." Egil said, trying to conceal his nervousness. "It's you guys that'll be trying to keep up with me!"
Armed thusly with the ability to properly prepare for oncoming challenges, also with a knowledge of their own personal limits and shortcomings in battle, the foursome proceeded to follow Sylvie as she led them up and through the tower.
It did not have much to it, each floor simply being a long hallway with a single room in the center. They checked these as they proceeded upward, for what if they had a dungeon concealed within? But they found nothing but more pirate enemies. Enemies they had to hastily take out before they alerted their colleagues. Thankfully, though, the men were lazy and relaxed, believing half their job was done merely by intimidation of the fortress alone. But the watchtower was poorly constructed and it's guards poorly chosen. None thought to alert their fellows, perceiving the group of children to be an easy target.
It didn't take long for Egil to regain his confidence in battle either. "UN. DE. FEATED! Ha! Oh, ouch, ouch…" He had thrown his hands up in celebration but one of the wounds he had just received caught him there and he was doubled over and wincing now.
"I told you to heal those!" Til scolded him.
"What? I can handle it. Hey, no, I'm good I told you! Ow-ow-ow!"
"Healing magic doesn't hurt, you know that right?"
"Oh uh, yeah."
"Then why are you acting like I'm trying to hurt you?!"
While Til sought (unsuccessfully) to heal Egil's wounds, Procyon struck up a private conversation with Sylvie.
"So, I take it you don't want to tell them about… whatever it is we're going to be doing?"
Sylvie was writing in her journal but looked up when he mentioned this. "It's not that I can't talk about all of it," She said, "There's just no reason for them to know."
"Is there anything you CAN tell me?" He asked, "I'm a little confused honestly."
Sylvie began to draw a little flower in one corner of her page. "Well, we have to fight a being that is spiritual, or at least has a negative effect upon the spirits. You and I are the only ones who can do that."
"I get you being able to do that, you're pretty much made of magic and spirit-y things." Procyon replied, "But I doubt I've got the same stuff."
"It's different for you." She said quietly. "Because of me, it's…"
Her voice faded and Procyon patted her shoulder. "Sorry, I understand. Well, I might mess up but I'll do my best with whatever happens."
Sylvie nodded but said nothing more.
After Egil had been successfully healed (against his will) they proceeded farther up the tower. As they were proceeding up the last flight they were confronted by two pirates.
"It's the kids!" Zheng screamed.
"I thought you said only two escaped?" Wang said.
"Tch, well, clearly there are four of them!"
Wang turned to them and smashed his fists together, "Well, nice of you guys to make our jobs easier!"
The big guy lunged for them and Procyon nearly fell trying to dodge. The others caught him but he began to shout, "Get back! Get back!"
The four all rushed back down the stairs, Egil blocking several follow up blows. Once they had room to move they turned round to prepare for the next strike. But to their surprise the large pirate did not follow them. Instead, a green mist began to pour out from the stairwell.
"Careful!" Til warned them, "it's another sleep spell!"
"We need to take out the mage." Egil said, backing away from the smoke. "But we can't get to him with the big guy blocking the stairwell and this smokescreen in the way."
"Does anyone know how to cast dispel?"
"..."
"..."
"...No."
Procyon looked around and then turned to them and quietly said, "Ok ok, I've got an idea…"
The green mist was still pouring down. Wang leaned up against the wall just behind the mage, arms crossed and in general looking quite annoyed.
"They were just kids." He said, "I was going to have the chance to do some real pounding!"
"They escaped twice!" Zheng hissed back at him, "AND they followed us! I'm not taking any chances."
Wang grumbled, "Whatever. You ruined my fun. Surely they're knocked out by now? I can't hear anything."
"Carefully." Zheng began to walk down the stairwell, the spell dissipating as he proceeded. As he reached the bottom he looked around. Seeing nothing, he continued to blast his spell in the direction they were going. But before they had even rounded the corner…
Thud.
"Gah!"
A dagger embedded itself into the mage's shoulder blade. He lurched forward and dropped his staff, subsequently destroying his spell. Wang caught him as he fell and looked around. Just above him, barely grasping onto a lighting fixture was the pipsqueak who had thrown the dagger.
"Oi, c'mere you filthy little rat!"
"Says the filthy big rat!" Sylvie shouted, sending a stream of fire towards the pirates. Wang blocked the blow and turned away, allowing Procyon time to jump across the heads of their two enemies and back to safety. Zheng had picked up his staff and was preparing a healing spell, injured as he was. Til drew his bow and fired, barely missing but striking near his leg.
"Keep him from casting!" Til shouted as he went to draw again. He was knocked back by a blow from Wang before he even had time to prepare.
"Time for a pounding!"
Egil grabbed a decorative shield and raised it up, blocking a second and third strike from the big pirate. It did the job, and Wang fell back a few steps.
Sylvie was dueling one on one with the mage, dodging his incoming spells. Fire and poison struck at her, but she dodged them. Procyon kept the man unfocused by leaping in and striking him unexpectedly.
"Tch, stand still!" Zheng screamed, feeling ice begin to crawl up his legs as Sylvie froze him in place.
Egil was buckling under the weight of repeated blows, but Til had prepared for that. He drew his bow and shouted, "Out of the way, Egil!" Releasing his arrow just as his friend leapt to safety. An arrow lodged in the neck of the big guy.
One strike from Egil, and the mage was down too. The two slumped and fell to the floor, groaning from their wounds. Til approached them now and crouched down.
"Where did you take our crew?"
"I'm not talking'." The mage spat.
"Well heck Zheng like that's going to help!" Wang said, groaning in pain. "They are being held in a cell just inside the city. Here is the key."
Til took the big iron key carefully, still suspicious in case they weren't telling the truth.
"What do we do now?" He asked them.
"We tie them up and leave them." Sylvie said, pulling a rope out of her backpack.
Once this was done, they proceeded back down the hall until they came to the flight of stairs.
"Thank you for your help." Sylvie said to them, "The spirit resides in the room at the top of this floor. Procyon and I must face it now, or even the dead here will become spirits of evil."
"I'm ready." Procyon said, puffing his chest out as much as he could.
"Let's go." Egil said.
They proceeded up the final flight of stairs, arriving at a long hallway which led to a single door. The door was rusted and old, and hardly looked like it would work.
Sylvie took a deep breath, saying, "Once we've confirmed where the spirit is, we will fight it. There may be human enemies. Egil and Til, you will fight them. If not, guard us as you can."
The three nodded and she reached for the handle, face set in determination.
The door opened readily and they stepped into the room, prepared for a fight. They found a lavish apartment of sorts, full of silk and rice paper screens. Sunlight streamed in through the walls on all sides, revealing the shadows of plants and trees.
Delicate pieces of art were displayed around the room, too. Pottery, paintings and figurines. It was beautiful and gentle. Yet it felt strange somehow.
"Aren't we at the top of a tower?" Egil asked, scratching his head.
"We are." Sylvie said, examining a vase carefully.
"This is… a really big room." Til remarked, peering down a hallway that stretched much farther than the outside of the building should have permitted.
Sylvie walked across to a silk screen and drew it aside. Seated at the desk behind it they found a man with long flowing hair and smooth features, dressed as he was in what looked to be a golden silk robe. He looked the intruders over carefully.
"I am Lord Wako." He said, "Future king of New Wa. You would do well to bow in my presence."
The four of them did not move. He looked them over slowly. "And to whom do I owe the honor of this meeting? I see that you are warriors. Brave ones, though young. Perhaps you have come to join my people?"
"Are you the one who led the raid upon Caldisla?" Til asked.
"I do not know that name." He replied, "But I am indeed invading a newfound island. I will bring the peasants prosperity and protection."
"You're the one we need protection from!" Egil said, drawing his sword.
Wako chuckled, "You have not seen the mainland. Once they know of you they will attack with fervor." He sighed, "The nation is divided, and a new landmass would mean greater power to one side or the other. Not that they would be kind about it. They would simply send you off to die In their war. But as for me, we will occupy the land and deter those of Wa from attacking."
Egil glanced at Til, wondering if what the man said could be trusted.
"You hesitate." Wako stood. "Allow me to show you on this map."
He motioned to a great scroll pinned up on the wall. Had it been there before? On it, one could see a great landmass with a line divided down the middle. One side was colored a bright gold, and the other a dark red.
"This is the nation of Wa." Wako said, pointing to the continent. He then motioned to a small speck up in the corner of the map. "And this, here, is your tiny island home. Wa has many soldiers. They will find and attack you sooner or later. But, I suppose it is up to you."
Til marveled at the map, but at the same time he felt his spirit sinking. They had been attacked by a single ship before. What would happen if they were invaded? Caldisla was indeed small in comparison.
"Maybe it's better to let them help." Egil said, scratching his head in confusion, "I don't know… that continent looks really big."
"As for you, little maiden, I can only offer you a rest from your burden." Lord Wako said to Sylvie. "I am a protector and a defender. The darkness which chases you will not find you here."
Sylvie glanced up at him. Procyon crossed his arms, looking at the guy warily. "Wait, we're not actually going to listen to what he's saying right?"
The man turned to him now, "N'ayez pas peur, il y a une place pour vous aussi."
Procyon's eyes widened and he backed away a few steps. "A-Attends… Comment tu-sais…?"
Sylvie stepped forward now, approaching the man. "You are no more capable of protecting and providing for us than your master is. Nor do you have any intention of doing so." She dropped her staff and clasped her hands together.
"This is all an illusion… and so are you."
With a sudden flash as of lightning the surrounding world changed. The finery disappeared, replaced by the common walls of the fortress. Around them were piles of junk, most so random that one could detect no particular order to the piles.
"What…?" The three boys looked around in surprise, for the finery was gone. The vase that Sylvie had picked up was now an old and dirty teapot which sat atop a pile of more junk.
"None of that was real?" Egil said, "What? Wait, where's that Wako guy?"
A strange, goblin-faced old man came out from behind one of the piles. "I am Lord Wako! I will rule the people's of this world and live in luxury all my life!"
"Luxury?" Til said, picking up an old glass and tossing it behind himself. "This is all just junk."
The old man screeched, "You shall not harm my pretties! I am Lord Wako, bearer of the Scavenger Asterisk… I am blessed by Obake! I shall strike you down!"
He raised his hands, but nothing happened. He tried again, but he only bumped one of his piles and had to save it from crashing to the floor.
"Uh, what were you saying?" Egil asked.
"Get out! Get out!" The man screamed, drawing from his belt several shuriken. The four dodged just in time as the barbed shafts came flying towards them, embedding into the walls behind where they had been standing.
Procyon flung daggers back at him, and the two both began to dodge back and forth. Sylvie crouched on her knees, hands clasped as if in prayer.
"How did you know my language?" Procyon shouted as he ducked another strike.
"I know all!" The old man cackled, "It is how I have become so great! It is why I have so much finery!"
"What finery?" Procyon asked, throwing a knife that at last made contact with the man's leg. He fell back as Egil's sword made contact with his side.
"I will show you…" he muttered, "Obake, grant me what is mine!"
The room shifted back to the fine art of before and the old man stood up, his image flickering to that of the tall man from before.
"Fool… it is not you, old man, that gains power from me… it is I who gains power from you!"
He raised his hands up and the various trinkets throughout the room rose into the air, magically preparing to be launched at his enemies.
"Woah, woah, what's going on?" Til asked, raising his sword into a defensive stance.
Egil, however, wasn't looking at their enemy. "Uh… Sylvie is glowing."
"She's what?"
They looked and saw that Sylvie was indeed glowing with a pale blue luminescence. She stood, but kept her eyes closed. "Obake." She said, "You are trapped."
Again, the world changed. They were standing upon a floor of stained glass with light rising from beneath it. Around them was a dark atmosphere that was speckled with stars.
"Geez things just keep getting more fun, don't they?" Egil said sarcastically.
Sylvie opened her eyes and whirled around, staring at both Til and Egil in shock. "How are you both here? Did I do something wrong? Or…?"
Her eyes widened and she clapped a hand over her mouth as if she had realized something. But before she had time to explain, a being which resembled Lord Wako rose before them, but its face was distorted and several tendrils of darkness flowed out from its back. It hissed at them. "Vestals and Vassals… How unfortunate. But I do not plan to be defeated here. My power is not yet mature… and neither are you."
A dark, electrified tentacle rushed towards them and they dodged as it struck the ground. Sylvie cast a fireball towards the tendril and it recoiled. "Augh, I'm so stupid! Procyon, with me." She said, "Both of you, hang back for now. I need to figure this out."
Procyon nodded, "Let's do this!"
Another electrified tendril charged for them. Procyon leapt up and came down, successfully cutting it in half. Sylvie cast thunder upon the spirit, but it did not seem to take any damage from this. As the tendrils came for her she defaulted and the attack bounced harmlessly off.
"Are we just going to stand and watch?" Egil asked, frustrated.
"...Sylvie said to."
Egil frowned and drew his sword. "Well, I'm not going to do nothing!" And he charged at an oncoming tendril. With a slice of his sword he clove it asunder and charged past it. The spirit grinned as he rushed straight towards it, slicing at oncoming attacks but oblivious to strikes coming from behind.
"Egil, watch out!"
Egil turned too late, but before they reached him a wall appeared, blocking the long dark arms before they struck. The spell was a small one since Til did not have anything but a sword, but it did the trick. Egil cut the tendrils and realized the creature was trying to encircle him.
"Encircling?" Egil remembered the spirit that had guided their ship to safety. Could it have some connection to this one?
"What in the Crystal's name are you doing,
hothead?" Sylvie shouted, "You're not even supposed to be here!"
"But we are!" Egil replied, "And we can fight too!"
Procyon jumped in front of Sylvie and blocked an onslaught of small and precise attacks. He looked back and nodded to her. "I think we need the help."
She growled in frustration. "i just need time to… ugh, alright! Mr Bigshot, cover me. Fluffy, I want you supporting Procyon."
"F… fluffy?" Til repeated, pointing to himself as if he wasn't sure whom she meant.
"Get to it!"
Egil made his way over to Sylvie's flank, but the Obake recognized their plan. It began to shoot out streams of tendrils that would cut them off from each other, the electricity growing in intensity so that one took damage just by touching them. Til had an advantage being just out of striking range, and began to cast protection spells on all three of them.
As they pressed down upon the creature it began to realize that it was outmatched, even if in number alone. Its attacks grew more desperate as it fought to keep them from reaching its center.
With a well-aimed spell from Sylvie, shards of ice flew at the spirit Obake. It dodged these and swiped them away only to see that Procyon was drawing close. It sought to block off his path but Til's spell blocked the attacks. As focused as it was the spirit almost didn't notice Egil running up on him from behind. Both hands on his greatsword, he swung, but the creature vanished before his eyes.
"Woah, where's he gone?" Egil asked.
"There." Procyon pointed. "It's the creepy old man. And… and the two guys we already defeated."
Zheng and Wang stood at either side of Wako, but their forms were hazy and difficult to make out. Were they ghosts of some sort?"
"We defeat them, we defeat the spirit." Sylvie muttered. "He's using them to protect himself, but it won't change the results of this battle."
"I have such treasures! Such power!" Wako screeched, "All should worship me! Fools!"
"We shall defend you, Lord Wako." The mage and fighter said.
Lining up, the teams began to fight. Their immediate concern was Zheng and his spells, thus they first tried to keep him occupied. But they found that Wang was the shield and kept taking blows for his comrades, blocking them from fighting anyone but him.
Meanwhile the Scavenger was dodging every move, and coming up behind them when they least expected it. Mid-cast Sylvie felt her staff yanked from her hands as the scavenger chuckled and ran away. "Hey!" She shouted, "You creepy two-faced little goblin!"
Procyon ran to get the staff back and struggled to yank it back in time, for Zheng was casting a fireball his way. Til blocked the attacks with his shield, and Procyon returned the staff to Sylvie.
Default. Brave. Default.
They kept at it until the big guy went down and they could focus on Zheng. With several well placed strikes he was soon taken out and now they had only to defeat Wako himself.
Still, despite Wako being the only enemy, it was difficult to even land a hit on him. He kept dodging every attack and countering with a slice of his dagger when they tried to hit him. Several times Procyon had to steal their weapons back.
"Ok this isn't working." Til said, "Egil, stop attacking. You're only sustaining more injuries. Focus on protecting us."
Egil sighed in frustration and picked up his shield, "Fine."
"And we attack from a distance?" Procyon asked. Til nodded and drew his bow.
Soon the Scavenger found it hard to break through to steal anything and he began to grow frantic. They had only to wait until he tired himself out.
And eventually, he ran out of MP.
"Now!" Til shouted, and they charged forward. A few strikes later and he was on his knees. Obake appeared again, hovering over his head. Sylvie raised a hand, calling for them to wait.
"You have won." The spirit said, "What do you desire of me?"
"That you should leave this world and never harm us again." Sylvie said.
"I'm afraid you are new to the rules of our little game, young Vestal." The creature said, grinning eerily. "You have defeated my vessel, but not I. The rules are clear on this matter, you may not bind or banish me."
Sylvie thought for a while, remembering a story she had read as a child. In it, it was described how the Vestals did battle with the demons. They could only ask for a small portion of the creature's power to be locked, but they might also include a new rule. "I command, then, that your powers should diminish irrevocably every moment that you spend upon this island."
The spirit hissed and contorted itself, already appearing to weaken. "We shall battle again… oh yes, we shall."
The creature let out a blood curdling cry and the surroundings faded back to the ordinary tower room. The old man was huddled next to one of his piles of junk, only his clothes were now raggedy and he did not appear to have much fight left in him. He was uninjured otherwise.
"We attacked him, though." Egil said, scratching his head, "Shouldn't he be?"
"We attacked him in a magical plane." Sylvie said. "He has been stripped of his powers." She held out a small, diamond shaped stone.
"Procyon. This would likely suit you style of fighting better than any of ours."
Procyon took the gem carefully, and jumped in surprise when it vanished and his own garments changed to that which the old man had worn in the fight.
"Woah, wait, ew. " He said, "I'm wearing that guy's clothes."
"Asterisks?" Til said, "What are those?"
Sylvie opened her mouth but then sighed, "See for yourself."
"What about old pouty?" Egil said, jerking a thumb at the man.
"We will leave him." Sylvie said, "he will not do any more harm. Perhaps he will even heal."
"My treasures…" Wako said, "My treasures! Get out, you will break them!"
"Why do you care about these things?" Procyon asked him, trying to speak gently. "Surely you have a family or someone you care about more than these things."
"Hah!" Wako scoffed, "Had a wife and sons. Selfish, mean greedy ones. They always wanted more of my things, they always kept me from enjoying my life."
"Surely you miss them, though?" Procyon asked, "They can't have been all that bad."
The old man spat on the ground in contempt, "Disgusting people, always asking for more, always complaining and ungrateful. 'i'm hungry' 'I don't feel well.' 'I need this.' 'I need that.' Blah blah blah! Selfish kids, always wasting my money, my time! I must collect treasures, treasures from the old days. More artifacts, more relics… Yes, and they shall go here… and I shall be the only one to own such things…"
Egil raised his eyebrows, saying, "Uh… you sure we want to spare this guy?"
Procyon stood up, disgusted. "Let's just go rescue your crew."