Tales of Xalthia

Chapter 7: A Knights' Call

Tsuki and Lynette had just interrupted a sacred ceremony that was being held underway by members of Draxus. Almost two hours had passed since they first arrived at the small clearing outside where they had their first encounter with Draxus. Now, they both were standing inbetween Yuno and the girl that was strapped to the wall. The smoke and dust started to dissipate after a few minutes as things settled down. Once visibility returned to the room, they could see several cloaked figures thrown around the room due to the explosion that was caused when the jewel had smashed against the wall.. Some were bleeding heavily on the ground and some were dead. Most of cloaked figures, however, were gone without a trace. There were only two exits; the door that they had sealed and the newly-formed hole in the wall. Initially, they had counted 25 cloaked figures but now there were 10 with 3 of them heavily bleeding on the ground and 2 that appeared to be dead. This became a concern for them.

Tsuki didn't understand where they all went. He was positive that no one had made an escape. Even under the cover of smoke, they would have heard the fleeing footsteps of 15 other people all at once, even with everything going on. Yet, he heard nothing. "This doesn't make any sense. Where did they all go? I can't even sense their presence" he said.

Lynette shook her head. "No...it's not that you can't feel their presence. It's more like they no longer have a presence" she said. She wasn't sure how to explain the feeling that she felt. It was an odd yet one that felt like a relief at the same time.

Tsuki looked over at her. He didn't understand what she was saying. "What do you mean by that?" he asked.

Lynette scratched her head a bit. She tried to figure out the simplest way to put it in words. "Almost like they vanished into thin air. The moment that explosion happened, I sensed a fluctuation in the Aer around us and it all came from where the cloaked figures were gathered around. Think of it like a ghost passing on, in other words" she said.

Tsukis' gaze went over to where the remaining cloaked figures were standing. Her hypothesis made about as much sense to him as to their sudden disappearance. Meanwhile, Yuno had pulled himself back onto his feet and dusted himself off a bit before looking towards Tsuki and Lynette. Now that the smoke was cleared up, he was able to get a better look at them. He recognized the armor Tsuki was wearing right away and since Lynette was with him, he had assumed her to be a royal mage.

Yuno gave both of them a cold, hard stare with a displeasing look. The ceremony that he had so carefully planned and prepared for was completely ruined by them. "Do you two realize what you've done!? All of my efforts and planning, wasted!" he shouted.

Tsuki glared at Yuno and simply nodded at him. "I believe I just put an end to your rituals of human sacrifice" he said.

Yuno gritted his teeth and swung his arm from one side in a fit of rage. "And who do you think you are to stop me!? You royal knights think you're so tough, standing on that little perch of yours" he said. He couldn't stand the royal knights and their authority. He liked to be the one that was in control of things.

TsukI shook his head. "You don't seem to understand the predicament you're in so let me clarify it a little better for you" he said. He took a deep breath and pointed the tip of his blade at not only Yuno but the remaining cloaked figures. "My name is Tsuki Himura of the Royal Eight that serve directly under King Taichi and Queen Emma. It is with my authority that I place you all under arrest. Drop your weapons and surrender unless you want to end up like some of your companions" he said.

As Tsuki was clarifying is introduction, his name rung in the girls' ears. At first, she didn't catch onto it but after a few moments, her gaze shifted over to the fuzzy silhouette of Tsuki. "Tsu...ki?" she struggled to say. Due to being electrocuted and being left overly drained, weakened and hurt from it, it was hard for her to speak, let alone move. Despite that though, some bit of life seemed to return to her dark blue eyes as they didn't look as empty as before until she ended up passing out.

Lynette tapped her staff on the ground, seemingly repeating what Yuno did before. "Your operation here has been exposed. You have no safe haven to turn to now" she said. While she wasn't a knight or in the employ of the royal family, she wanted them to see justice being served for all that they have done.

Yuno shot daggers at Lynette by how much he was glaring at her. He examined both of them for a minute or two before taking a deep breath to calm himself down. "There will always be a place for us. Not that it will matter anyway. You're about to regret what you've done" he said.

He then snapped his fingers and moments later, the five remaining cloaked figures drew swords from under their cloaks. Almost immediately, their eyes started to grow various different colors as their bodies and weapons shared a similar glow. Yuno would soon do the same only instead, he would draw a katana out. The other cloaked figures' Aer felt about the same as the ones they've already fought but Yunos' was different. It was denser and stronger. He may look like an ordinary person but there was more to him that meets the eye.

Lynette grew a bit uneasy about something. She felt a drastic shift in Yunos' Aer that she's never felt before. "This feeling...what is this? It doesn't feel...normal. I can feel corruption in his Aer. It's strong and...reactive? Like it's almost alive in a way" she said. This wasn't a simple power boost or the use of ones' Mana. This was an unnatural balance shift that didn't feel right.

Tsukis' eyes widened a bit when Lynette analyzed Yuno. "What?" he asked. He then had a flashback to when he was with Reia back up on Celestial Hills. She had mentioned that the Rhybgaros' Aer was unbalanced by some strange darkness to which he discovered was caused by some sort of purple crystal. "Could this be like what happened with the Rhybgaro?" he asked.

Lynette shook her head. While she wasn't there to witness it herself, he did tell her in full detail of what happened. This time around, it feels different. "I don't think it is. Based on what you said, the Rhybgaro looked to be in pain as if something was controlling it. This guy, however, appears to be fully cognitive and in control. Of course, we're talking about the difference between a Human and monster but still, there are no similarities" she said.

Yuno chuckled as the two of them talked amongst themselves, trying to figure things out. "You two have no idea what's going on nor will you ever. We have been gifted a power of which you've never seen before" he said. He soon brought his katana up over his head as he gripped the hilt with two hands. A faint humming sound soon started to sound off from the blade. "Allow me to show you just a small taste" he said.

Lynette sensed a convergence of dense, concentrated Aer forming within the blade of Yunos' katana It was an oppressive feeling fueled by an intense darkness. "Tsuki!" she shouted.

Moments later, Yuno swung down his katana in a vertical swing, releasing a vertical, crescent blast of dark energy. It shot from the blade and was sent towards Tsuki and Lynette. Tsuki got into a defensive stance as Lynettes' eyes started to glow a faint light. Moments later, a blue dome of energy appeared around them. At the same time, Tsuki had generated his own type of defense as his eyes briefly flashed yellow and formed a wall of energy in front of them within the dome. The blast crashed into the dome. The dome couldn't withstand the full brunt of the attack and soon shattered. The blast then crashed into the wall that Tsuki had formed and since the dome withstood most of the attack, the blast was now too weak to break through as the wall absorbed it.

With the blast gone, tension filled the air. Tsuki and Yuno stared at each other as Lynette watched them. Something else had caught her attention as she glanced over at Tsuki. "That wall of energy..." she said. When Tsuki generated his defensive wall, she was only to catch it for a split second but she definitely felt a slight but significant change in his Aer. While it was essentially just a quick flicker, there was something to it that felt different. It wasn't anything evil but it had a similar feeling to the strange darkness that Yuno was giving off. She felt like someone, or something, showed itself for a split second then promptly left. She couldn't understand it but this wasn't the time to think about it so she simply shook the thought off her mind and focused back on Yuno.

Yuno was impressed a little bit that they were able to block his attack. He's only encountered a few people that were able to do that though it was blocked with some additional assistance. "Well, it seems that there is more bite to you than there is bark. I think I'm going to enjoy this" he said.

He glanced over at the five other standing cloaked figures and nodded. The figures soon moved around the room with their weapons drawn as they spread out and stood around them, surrounding them as the only things behind Tsuki and Lynette were was a wall. They all stood there with their swords ready to attack as they chuckled menacingly was Yuno repositioned himself, standing in the middle between them and Tsuki.

Yuno felt a sense of delight well up inside him. The frustration and anger he felt a few moments ago turned into confidence and ambition. "You remind me of a certain warrior, boy. I see that same fire in your eyes as I do in his. Unfortunately, your flame pales in comparison to his. It's a shame such potential is wasted. As for the girl..." he said. He gave Lynette a thorough examination with his eyes and had a grin on his face. "Yes, I sense strong magic within her. While it is no darkness, I'm sure I could find some use for it. If nothing else, she's got a great figure to her. She would make for a nice little pet" he said.

Lynette was getting flashbacks from receiving similar comments by the one guy from the clearing outside of the castle. Much like before, it made her feel violated as chills went down her spine. "I'll die before that ever happens" she said.

Yuno chuckled once more by her words which only served to delight him even more. "I seem to recall the girl behind you saying the same thing. She had such a defiant attitude, always believing that she'll one day escape. Now look at her; she's nothing more than an empty shell with a broken spirit. I'll enjoy breaking you as I did her" he said. He then readied his katana as if he was going to lunge at them.

Tsuki and Lynette readied themselves as the five cloaked figures slowly started to close in on them with their weapons held. Tsuki was just about to charge at them when moments later, the door sealed door and the wall connecting to it that was on the other side of the room was blown right open from some type of explosion coming from the other side. This caused the advancing cloaked figures to stop and turn to face in that direction as a bit of smoke once again filled the room.

Yuno quickly turned around and faced in that direction as the explosion shook the room once more. "Oh, what now!?" he asked.

The room fell silent as Tsuki and Lynette looked at each other for a moment. Then, they heard metallic footsteps coming from within the smoke. Soon, they were able to make out a figure from within the smoke and once the smoke had cleared up a bit, Tsuki was shocked to see who it was. It was a girl that appeared to be a little older than Tsuki and wore armor that looked identical to what he was wearing. She had long, violet hair with purple eyes and carried two katanas that were strapped to the left side of her waist. It was Xpheria "Phi" Sykes, another member of the Royal Eight and Tsukis' rival.

Phi took several steps into the room and stood not too far behind the cloaked figures as she folded her arms. "For someone who called in for reinforcements, you sure picked a hard place for us to reach" she said. She looked around the room and looked towards Tsuki and Lynette who appeared to have found themselves surrounded.

Tsuki didn't expect Phi of all people to show up. According to King Taichi in his most recent letter, he made it out to seem like all of the members of the Royal Eight were still out on assignment. "Phi!?" he shouted.

Yuno recognized the armor she was wearing since Tsuki was wearing the same thing. "What's this, another one? No matter, you'll die with them as well" he said.

Phi shook her head before turning her attention to Yuno. "Think again" she said.

Moments later, ten knights ran into the room from behind her with their weapons drawn and stood ready to attack. The fact that the royal knights have arrived sent the five standing cloaked figures into panic as the glows they were giving off disappeared due to a loss of concentration. Yuno, however, still stood there with his weapon ready as he assessed his options. He had now found himself outnumbered. His gaze went all around the room and eventually focused on the hole in the wall that was made from the previous explosion caused by Tsuki. There was enough distance between him, Tsuki and the royal knights that he could get away. Once he was out in the wilderness, he could easily evade capture.

Tsuki pointed the tip of his blade towards Yuno as things had turned into their favor. "You've lost, Magister. Surrender" he said.

Yuno glared at Tsuki before giving him a smug look on his face. "Surrender? You may have pulled one over us but Draxus indomitable. We will fight to see another day, just you wait!" he said.

He then shfited his body towards the opening in the wall and lunged towards it, making a run for it. However, just as he was about to reach the opening, a tall, muscular man wearing regular knight armor had leapt around the corner of it and stood in the center of it. Before Yuno could react, the man pulled his right arm back with his fist clenched and made a strong thrust with it. His fist slammed into Yunos' stomach and there was enough force put into the punch that he forced Yuno to immediately drop his katana as he was sent flying back and crashing into the wall across the room, knocking down two of the cloaked figures in the process. The impact of the crash had knocked Yuno out cold.

The mans' fist was enveloped by a red glow as he stood back up straight, dropping his arm back to his side with the glow soon disappearing. He then looked over to Tsuki, putting two fingers to his forehead and gave him a brief salute with a large grin on his face. "Sorry we're a late. It took us a while to find the pathway to get up here with this storm and everything. Marching a squadran of knights up a steep mountain during an intense storm isn't the easiest things to do" he said.

Tsuki was surprised that not only did Phi show up but another familiar knight did as well. This was more than what he could of asked for in terms of reinforcements. "Georg! You're here too!?" he asked.

The knight that had appeared was Georg Tenzin. He was 38 years old and serves as one of Eresseas' top Generals. He is a knight with extremely high recognition to all in Cayhill, even among the Tribes. His reputation as one of this side of the worlds' strongest swordsman precedes far and wide. He carries two katanas on his left side, much like Phi does in similar fashion. His Twin-Blade Style of fighting is a display of swordsmanship that very few people can show off and his mastery with the blade and art is practically unrivaled. His feats and accomplishments have awarded him with many medals and accolades. He had been offered a position in the Royal Eights multiple times but he had politely refused the offers every single time. Georg is the only person among the knights that the royal family have complete and total confidence and trust in. Whenever something arises where the Royal Eight are unavailable to take on, it would fall on him. He wasn't just one of the top Generals; he also served as an instructor to those willing to learn the Twin-Blade Style as he searches for the right person to pass his lifes' work onto. It takes a high level of mastery in swordsmanship and discipline to learn the art so not many were able to succeed and was worried that he wasn't going to find anyone to pass on his art. That is, until he met Phi who demonstrated her skill and competence. He currently serves as Phis' master and instructor in the art of the Twin-Blade Style.

Upon seeing Yuno knock out cold and no way for them to escape, the cloaked figures dropped their weapons and surrendered. The knights quickly moved in and seperated the weapons from them and restrained Yuno and the cloaked figures as well as the three that had been bleeding on the ground from the earlier explosion.

Georg finished giving some of the knights commands before walking over to Tsuki. "Hey kid. You look like you've gotten a bit stronger since the last time I saw you" he said.

Tsuki turned to face Georg as he approached him. "It's great to see you, Georg but the area around here is pretty big. How did you know we were here?" he asked.

Georg pointed back towards the hole in the wall. "Hard to not know where you were. We heard an explosion as soon as we entered the main courtyard. Figured something was going on" he said.

Lynette shrugged a bit. "I guess that would have been pretty obvious, huh?" she said. She was a little worried there for a minute and wasn't sure what was going to happen. "Looks like your gut instinct was right, after all" she said, referring to his comment from earlier how he had a gut instinct that reinforcements would arrive.

Phi walked up to Tsuki once things had gotten under control and the cloaked figures were properly restrained. "Based on the numbers that are in this room, the three we found out in the hall and two that were lying out in the clearing a little ways down the mountain, I counted 15 people, five of which are dead, presumably because of your doing. You could of easily defeated them rest. Why send for reinforcements?" she asked. He may be her rival but that doesn't mean she doesn't recognize his strengths. Something about this didn't seem right.

Tsuki shook his head. He wasn't sure how to explain how most of the figures that were in the room prior to when Tsuki shattered that jewel had suddenly vanished into thin air. "There were a lot more. There's another body down a passageway beyond the stairwell across from this chamber and about 25 of them here in this room, to be exact. However, after that explosion happened, most of them had just...disappeared" he said.

Phi folded her arms and tilted her head. "Disappeared? What do you mean?" she asked.

Tsuki shrugged. "I couldn't tell you. One minute, there were there and then the next, they were gone" he said.

Phi held her hand up to her chin in thought. "People don't just disappear. That explosion rocked the entire area. Maybe some fled in the chaos" she said. She turned her gaze over to Georg. "Did you see anybody moving down the mountain when you were making your way around?" she asked.

Georg shook his head. "Nope, not a thing. Besides, there's a pretty far drop on the other side of the wall with very little solid ground to walk on. With the storm and everything, they would have most likely slipped off the edge and fell to their deaths if they fled in a panic but there were no bodies around" he said. On the other side of the wall was very narrow solid ground, to the point where one would literally have to hug the side of the wall and carefully slide across to either side to get to safety. Beyond that narrow piece of ground was a sheer drop that no one would have been able to survive especially during this intense storm.

Phi didn't understand this. It made no sense to her. Then, she recalled hearing about strange sightings some of the other Royal Eight members have reported. "More of these strange events then. This is similar to Julas' report" she said.

Tsuki recalled that in the letter that King Taichi wrote to him that some of the other members have reported strange events. "Jula has seen something like this as well?" he asked.

Phi looked at him and nodded. "Yes, along the lakes' eastern coastline in the nearby woods. She was out doing a survery when she noticed these strange figures that looked suspicious. Thinking they were bandits, she tailed them as long as she could before she had lost them. She searched the entire area and didn't find them" she said. She had thought that the bandits had somehow managed to trick her in order to shake Jula off their trail but now Tsuki had witnessed figures disappearing as well. She didn't know what was going on but she had a feeling that these events were connected in some sort of way.

Georg heard about these reports. While he didn't know the full details as they are still coming in, he knows enough to say that something suspicious was happening in the shadows. However, they know far too little to make any kind of action as of right now. "While it is concerning, there's nothing we can do right now but keep our eyes peeled. In the meantime, let's focus on what we can do now" he said. He then turned to Tsuki and Lynette. "First off, it seems that your companion is a bit confused. I apologize for the late introduction, Miss. My name is Georg Tenzin, General of Eresseas" he said.

Phi faced Lynette and held her right arm up to her heart with a slight bow. "And I'm Xpheria Sykes but everyone calls me Phi. I'm a member of the Royal Eight just like Tsuki. I apologize if he's been putting you through too much. It's normally not our business to involve civilians in situations like this so I'll be sure to scold him later" she said. She didn't know why she was with him or why Tsuki allowed a civilian to accompany him whether they were an adventurer or not.

Tsuki glared a bit at Phi because of her last comment. "You make it sound like I forced her to come along with me. It's not like that at all" he said. He knew that she wasn't all that serious. She liked to give him a hard time but it's not like she was wrong either.

Lynette was a bit flustered by their introductions. "I-I'm Lynette Suzaki. I'm a healer from Crescentia. I understood the risks and accepted them. I'm here with Tsuki of my own volition" she said.

Georg raised his eyebrow a bit when she said she was from Crescentia. Moreover than that, she was a healer. "A healer from Crescentia, huh? You wouldn't happen to know anyone by the name of Reia, would you?" he asked.

Lynette looked up at Georg. He was so tall that she had to tilt her head back a bit. "Yes. She was the one who helped teach me Healing Artes" she said.

Georg approached her and put a hand on her shoulder with a big grin on his face. "I knew it! So, you must be her little protege then. She's talked about you a lot" he said. He's always heard about her and wanted to meet her one day and now that day has finally come.

Lynette tilted her head. "You know her?" she asked.

Georg nodded and tapped his hand against his chest. "You can say that she's an old friend. She used to always scold me for getting hurt too much during my training sessions" he said.

Phi sighed, scratching the back of her head. "While I am curious to know why you decided to bring a civilian along with you since she doesn't appear to be an adventurer, we need to finish securing the area" she said. She then turned around and started to approach some of the knights behind her.

Tsuki held his arm out and tried to stop her. There was one thing that also needed to be done along with a warning. "Phi, we also located people that were held hostage. They're down the stairwell across from this room in the passageway that I had mentioned. You should also...prepare everyone for what you're going to see down there" she said. He knows that the sight of all those bodies piled up on each other in that one cell is going to be very unsettling for them.

Phi looked back and was about to say something when she noticed the grim look on his face. She knew that he was serious based on both of their body languages. She nodded and started giving orders to the knights. Several knights went into action and escorted the restraine cloaked figures out of the room while others spread out to canvas the entire castle. Meanwhile, Tsuki turned around and removed the girl from the bindings that had her strapped to the wall with his sword before finally sheathing it. He gently set her on the ground and Lynette immediately began performing Healing Artes on her.

Georg sighed as he looked around the room. "I still can't believe you actually found where some of Draxus were hiding. We spent quite a bit of manpower trying to find them and yet you do so easily. By complete coincidence too, might I add" he said.

Tsuki looked over to the girl on the ground. "I'm not sure what happened prior to us arriving but I'm pretty sure we have her to thank. Like I mentioned, there were several explosions that occurred that made us take notice and I have a feeling it was her trying to get away" he said.

Georg followed his gaze over to the girl. "Who is she?" he asked.

Tsuki was silent for a moment and hesitated a bit before answering him. "She's another survivor of Tomoha, just like me. Draxus wanted her because of her apparent ability to control Darkness-based magic" he said.

Georgs' eyebrow raised a bit and shifted his gaze to Tsuki, his arms folding in front of him. "From Tomoha, you say? That's a pretty wild claim, considering the fact that it happened 10 years ago. What makes you so sure?" he asked.

Tsuki clenched his fist a bit before approaching the girl and Lynette. "She's a childhood friend" he said.

Georg watched as he walked towards the two of them as he mentioned that he knew her. "I see..." he said. He closed his eyes for a moment before turning around, dropping his arms to his side and walked off towards the rooms' exit.

Tsuki stood beside Lynette and got down onto one knee. "How is she?" he asked.

Lynette shook her head at him. "Her physical injuries are nothing too serious but that's not the worst of it. Her Aer is all out of whack, most likely due to that spell Yuno was using and there's severe damage done to her mind and spirit just as he had mentioned. Healing Artes can treat physical wounds and can sometimes cure sickness but they're not omnipotent. No matter how powerful or talented a healer is, Healing Artes can't mend someones' mental state and spirit. She's going to need rehabilitation" she said. She wishes that she could do more for her. This was exactly the type of thing she wanted to become a healer for. Unfortunately, she was still too inexperienced to be of any significant help. "I'm sorry. I wish there was more I could do for her. For you" she said.

Tsuki knew that she was putting her all into treating her. He was well aware of the limitations there were to Healing Artes. They can't cure everything though the notion that she was doing her best to try was more than enough for him. He placed his hand on her head and gently patted her. "You've done enough for her already. Don't worry about it" he said.

The girl was healed up as best as Lynette could manage. She remained unconscious for several more minutes. As Lynette was healing her though, her subconscious could feel the warm light enveloping her from the Healing Artes. "This warmth. What is this? It feels so comforting. Almost like I'm being wrapped in a soft blanket" she thought to herself.

As she was enveloped by this light, she slowly opened her eyes once again. Her vision was blurry at first but as she fully opened them, her vision started to become more clear. After a few moments, her vision was back to normal. Life had fully returned to her eyes and the first thing she saw was Lynette sitting next to her.

Lynette saw that the girl had regained consciousness as she finished up healing her. The light soon disappeared from her hands as she sat back, feeling completely exhausted, short of breath and sweating a bit from her overuse of healing. "Why, hello there. Welcome back to the living" she said.

The girls' gaze slowly looked over up at Lynette. She could visibly see how exhausted she was but didn't understand what was happening. The last thing she saw were two blurry figures standing in front of her after her electrocution stopped. "Huh...?" she said. It took a few moments for it all to come back to her. Her head soon turned as her gaze soon locked onto Tsuki. She didn't recognize him for a minute because of how different he looked but she soon had flashbacks from her childhood and was able to make the connection. "Tsuki...? Am I dead?" she asked. She was still feeling rather weak so it was hard for her to move but she found herself raising her left arm up to reach out for him. She was half-convinced that she was seeing things.

Tsuki chukled a bit and reached out to her outstretched arm and grabbed onto her hand and held onto it gently. "No. You're very much still alive just like me" he said. Seeing her in the state she was in was painful for him considering the fact that she used to be a somewhat wild and outgoing girl. The way she was now made it seem like she was someone else.

The girl that they had worked hard to save was Nagi Ferid. As Tsuki stated, Nagi was his childhood friend from back when he still lived a peaceful life in Tomoha. She was seventeen years old with light brown hair that went down to her shoulders with dark blue eyes. She was only seven when she was abducted. She had seen things over the last 10 years that people shouldn't ever have to bear witness to. She saw so many people killed in front of her eyes and for 10 years, she remained defiant and strong against Draxus. However, something happened in her recent days of captivity that led up to her attempted escape. With the help of someone she regarded as her only friend, she tried to escape from them but they quickly caught on to her and chased her down. Using magic she couldn't control, she caused several explosions of dark energy as she fled down the mountain. Unfortunately, her pursuers caught up to her when she reached the bottom of the mountain and ended up being knocked unconscious by them. When she regained consciousness and found herself back in a cell, she had pretty much given up hope and accepted her fate. She was prepared to die so that she could be free from the torment.

Tsuki took off the necklace and picture that was attached to his other hand. He reached out and placed them in her hand. "It's great to have you back, Nagi" he said.

Nagi felt the necklace in her hand as she left the tiny moon accessory fall from her palm and watched it as it dangled from her hand. As she stared at the small accessory and the translucent jewel inside of the moon, she had flashbacks of her parents when she was first given the necklace. This caused tears to well up in her eyes and run down her face. Her gaze soon returned to Tsuki as she slowly found the strength to sit up. She reached both of her arms up towards him and touched him as she was coming to the realization that what she was seeing wasn't a dream but reality. Moments later, she ended up burying her face against him as she tightly gripped onto his arms where she couldn't hold back her emotions any longer. She had a good, hard cry as she held onto him, letting out 10 years worth of pain and sorrow that she had been bottling up.

They remained there in the chamber for a little over 10 minutes as they allowed Nagi to let everything out. Tsuki did his best to keep her relatively calm by talking with her and reassuring her. Eventually, Nagi had managed to calm herself down, her eyes a bit red from all the crying. She had been trying her best to stay strong and to not allow herself to show Draxus weakness. She didn't want to give them that satisfaction. While she never showed emotional weakness, it didn't change the fact that they had done damage to her spirit. Now that they were out of the picture, she could finally find much needed peace and stability that she's longed for since the day she was abducted.

Once he saw that Nagi had calmed herself down, he pushed her back a bit by her shoulders. "Feeling any better?" he asked.

Nagi rubbed her eyes, sniffling a bit. Once she had let everything out, her face ended up turning red from the embarrassing display. "Y-yeah. I'm sorry you had to see that" she said.

Lynette shook her head. With who knows what kind of things she's had to endure and experience and the fact that she essentially bottled it all up inside of her, this was a pretty natural reaction. "You don't need to apologize. You've done nothing wrong. It'll take some time but with rehabilitation, I'm sure you'll be back to yourself in no no time at all" she said.

Nagi looked over at Lynette. "Umm...I know I'm a bit late in saying this but...thank you for healing me. My name is Nagi Ferid" she said, introducing herself.

Lynette held her hand out to Nagi and gave her a soft smile. "And mine's Lynette Suzaki but please call me Lyn. It's a healers' duty to provide aid to those who are suffering so don't worry about it" she said.

Nagi smiled back at Lynette before looking over at Tsuki. "Tsuki...you look so different than how I remember you. So, you're a royal knight now, huh?" she asked. She had missed out on so much over the last 10 years. She wasn't even sure where to begin catching up on. "It seems so much has happened over the years" she said.

Tsuki nodded at her. "I'll be sure to fill you in on everything once you've seen better clinical help. I do have one question I want to ask, though" he said. If anyone was going to know anything about his sister, it would most likely be her since he had assumed that they were abducted together. There was no way Draxus were going to simply kill off a High Elf.

Nagi tilted her head a bit. "What is it?" she asked.

Tsuki was a bit hesitant to ask about her. Based on the conversation he heard down in the underground, if she was truly abducted, she would most likely be dead. However, he needed to know. If she was dead, he needed some sense of closure. "During at any point in your captivity, was Elize with you?" he asked.

Nagi looked at him with a confused look before shaking her head. "Elize? No...she wasn't. I haven't seen her since the night of the attack. I thought she was dead along with you and everyone else" she said. The memories of her childhood were her greatest strength and support during these dark times for her.

Tsuki was thrilled when she said that she wasn't among those that were held captive with her. "Really!?" he asked. He then breathed a big sigh of relief. The fact that she wasn't used as a sacrifice or something made him more hopeful that she could still be alive considering the fact that there were no reports of her body ever being found.

Lynette looked at Tsuki and had a big grin on her face. She was happy for Tsuki that his sister could still be alive now. With the amount of magic powers the Elves have, High Elves in particular, they wouldn't have killed her even if she had resisted them to some degree. "See? What did I tell you? You just need to have faith" she said.

Nagi looked at both of them with the same confused expression. If Tsuki had asked her such a question, then that could only mean one thing. "Wait, are you saying that she's alive!?" she asked.

Tsuki shook his head. "I'm not sure yet but the chances are pretty high. Her body was never found among the dead in Tomoha so I figured that she was abducted. High Elves like her, especially when they're pretty young in Elf years, have pretty strong magic. If Draxus didn't abduct her, then that means she has to be still be out there somewhere" he said. He was too young at the time to really understand Elize due to her amnesia but she always had an aptitude for magic. He would recall seeing her practice with it as if she had been doing it all her life. He knew that there was something to her that they weren't aware of at the time.

Nagi felt her heart skip a bit at the thought of Elize being alive as well. Tsuki and Elize were her only friends as a kid so they were both very important to her. They were as much of a brother and sister to her as she was a sister to them. They had a very strong bond of friendship and family. "Elize..." she said, putting her hand over her heart.

Several minutes passed as the three of them talked. They could hear the storm outside finally start to die down as the sounds of heavy rainfall was starting to stop and the thunder that rocked the skies had ceased. The wind was still pretty strong though. After a while, Phi came back into the chamber, holding her hand up and covering half of her face as she was leaning up against the broken wall that the doorway used to be connected to that led into the chapel.

Based on her body language, Tsuki was able to guess what caused her to suddenly be like this. "You saw them, didn't you?" he asked. He was referring to the pile of bodies underground, of course.

Phi felt sick to her stomach just thinking about it. She had never seen such a gruesome scene before. Even during wartimes, such acts like those would be looked upon as vile war crimes with heavy consequences. "You said said to prepare ourselves, I wasn't expecting to walk into a castle of horrors" she said. She grabbed onto both of her arms as she looked up towards the sky. "I sent word out to Eresseas explaining the situation and requested for more aid to be sent out to help prepare the bodies for transfer so we can give them proper burials. We also freed the remaining captives and have escorted them out to the courtyard where they're being treated. Our supplies were already running low so we accomodated them as much as we could but once we get them back to the city, we'll be able to properly treat them and get them fed" she said.

Tsuki nodded at her. "Thanks, Phi. I appreciate it" he said. They may look at each other as rivals but they had a strong bond and level of trust with each other. They make up for each others' shortcomings. "I've been curious. How did you wind up being with Georg? I wasn't privy to the duties that were assigned to you but I'm pretty sure that they would of had you around the border town" he said.

Phi sighed, reaching up to scratch the back of her head. "Well, that was the plan. I was suppose to conduct an inspection of the town to make sure things are still running smoothly by a certain overzealous instructor had other plans" she said.

Almost right on cue, Georg walked into the room, giving her a gentle slap to her shoulder. "Aw, come on. It wasn't all that bad, was it? I got royal approval for your duty change so it's not like the inspection didn't happen. Besides, investigating a newly discovered ruin sounded a lot more exciting than some dull inspection" he said, letting out a hearty laugh afterwards. Despite his reputation and status, he was a very laid back person. He gets serious when he needs to be but he doesn't keep that serious attitude up any longer than needed.

Phi was pushed forward slightly from his slap and almost made her trip over the rubble. She couldn't help but give him a slight glare. "Honestly, I still don't konw how someone like you even got to where you're at" she said. He was her master and instructor so the difference in their ranks meant nothing to her. Technically, she has authority over him since the Royal Eight have a higher stand on authority and power than the knights do and that includes its' Generals and other high-ranking knights. Their bond can only be described as simply master/pupil. While he did irritate her at times, she still admired him and was thankful for all he has done for her.

Georg held his hand up, waving his index finger. "When one is too serious and inflexible, they'll have a higher chance to snap in two. You need to have some flex if you want to get far in this world" he said. He then looked over to Tsuki and motioned to them by waving his hand over to him. "Tsuki! You guys got some captives that want to express their gratitude and would like to speak with you" he said.

Tsuki looked over at Georg and nodded. "Alright, we'll be right there" he said. He then stood up and reached his hand out to Nagi. "It's about time we get a change of scenery anyway. Can you stand?" he asked.

Nagi reached up and grabbed onto his hand to try and pull herself up. Her legs still felt pretty weak and wobbly but she managed to pull herself up. She wasn't nearly as malnourished as the other captives were but she was still pretty thin and dehydrated. Her body was still feeling the affects from whatever spell Yuno was using on her as well so that didn't help her. "I'm sorry. This is about as much as I can do right now" she said.

Tsuki nodded and took her right arm and putting it over his shoulder. "It's okay. Just lean on me and try not to push yourself" he said.

Lynette would soon follow his example as she walked up next to her. "Let me help" she said. She took Nagis' other arm and put it around her shoulder so that Tsuki didn't have to drag her out.

Phi saw how rough of a shape Nagi was in. She looked like she had it worse than the rest. "Take her to the courtyard with everyone else. I'm sure they'll be relieved to see her as well. We've pretty much secured these entire grounds so don't worry. We'll be forming some type of perimeter around here so that we can work on getting those bodies prepared" she said.

Tsuki and Lynette soon walked out of the chamber while helping Nagi walk. After a couple minutes of steady walking, they walked out through the main entrance to the castle and walked out into the open courtyard. The skies were still grey but the storm has essentially passed over them. In the courtyard, the captives were enjoying freedom that they weren't able to have for who knows how long as the knights were scattered around all over, helping anyone in need. As soon as they walked out onto the courtyard, they saw the boy and older gentlemen that had pointed them in the right direction from before. Tsuki and Lynette helped Nagi over to them as they waved to them with excitement. They huddled around Nagi as they cried tears of joy that they were finally free.

After about an hour had passed. the knights were able to use old debris scattered around the area to form a low wall that circled around the courtyard. They had put together a makeshift camp where the knights and captives can rest and relax until they were ready to move out. Meanwhile, other knights led by Georg were in charge of the tough task of moving the bodies from the underground cell to a separate, large area on the other side of the courtyard where they laid each body out and covered them all up under tarps and sheets. It wasn't a simple task for many as they couldn't stomach the sight but they couldn't just leave them piled up any longer so they endured it.

Tsuki and Lynette were sitting around a fire pit while knights stood around the perimter. The now-freed captives were happily talking amongst themselves and the knights as they try to move on. Nagi was in a deep sleep near the fire pit as she was finally able to get some real sleep in a long this point, it was pretty late in the afternoon. Due to the size of the group and the number of knights that they have on-hand, they came to the conclusion that they were going to have to send people out in waves with knights escorting them to the nearest town which would be Crescentia. They had received word from Eresseas that they would deploy a company of knights of about 120 but due to the size of the force and location of Prophet Castle, it would take several days for them to arrive. The knights needed to make sure the area was sealed off so something like this wouldn't happen again. The primary concern for them right now was getting the survivors proper medical help which they can only do in waves.

As people gathered around the fire pit, Georg and Phi soon joined the crowd and sat down on nearby stone blocks. They were both exhausted from a long days' work. The climb up a slippery mountain was pretty tough on everyone and that was already on top of the traveling they were doing prior to being redirected. Tsuki and Lynette were just as, if not more, exhausted due to the dangerous climb they had to do to before finding an actual pathway and all of the fighting and sneaking around they had to do. The last three or so hours for them was both physically and mentally exhausting to them. Since they had some time, Tsuki had updated Phi and Georg on what's happened with them up to when they arrived to help them.

Georg was staring into the fire as his arms were folded in front of him as he told them about his mission. "So, Saiyakas' president and a number of other high-ranking officials were found dead, huh? That's the first we've heard of it since we were at the excavation site up until early this morning" he said.

Phi nodded to herself slowly. "I can see where you think that the scope of your mission became something entirely different. Simply defeating the president is one thing but killing him outright escalates things and since the Royal Eight are still bound by duties and Georg was at the excavation, you were forced to seek outside assistance" she said. After hearing the story behind why Lynette was with Tsuki, it started to make sense to her. It still made her uneasy though.

Georg looked at Tsuki and Lynette as he nodded slightly. "Given the circumstances, I don't think His Majesty will criticize. The mission has changed so you had to adapt to said changes" he said. He didn't doubt Tsukis' strength and he could see that Lynette was pretty capable. They lacked solid fighting strength but he was confident that the two of them will be able to cover for each of their shortcomings. "I just wish there was something more we can do to help. Now that we have all these people to escort to safety with the limited number of knights we have, our hands are pretty much tied" he said.

Phi was in the same boat as Georg was in. "I would of tagged along with you but someone needs to stay here and keep watch of things while someone else heads back to Eresseas with the things we managed to excavate" she said.

Tsuki shook his head. "We'll be fine though I appreciate the thought. We're about half a days' walk from the forest surrounding Briswater so hopefully we'll be able to learn more about what's going on" he said. Briswater had been in charge of the investigation now for several days so it's likely they have managed to learn a few things.

Georg fell into thought for a moment. Since they were going to pass through the forest to reach Briswater, something important came to mind that they needed to be aware of. "A word of warning about the forests surrounding Briswater: don't stray from the main paith and avoid monster trails" he said,

Tsuki tilted his head. "Why?" he asked.

Georg looked at Tsuki with a serious expression on his face. "Those woods hide danger. A rather troublesome monster prowls around, attacking anything it sees. The mages of Briswater have had trouble subduing it. Many have been seriously injured while others were killed by it. Not only that, it could be anywhere. The entire forest is its home so it's hard to pin it down to one area" he said.

Phi looked over at Georg. "You're talking about the supposed Lord of the Woods, aren't you? Didn't you try to take it down at some point as well?" she asked. She remembered that event pretty well. It was basically what gave this monster its name.

Tsukis' eyes widened a bit. "And even you couldn't kill it!?" he asked. This was a shock to him considering how strong Georg was. A man who was considered one of the best swordsman and not even someone of his caliber could take one a single monster.

Georg sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "Must you bring that up?" he asked. There weren't many opponents that gave him a lot of trouble, especially if his opponent was of the monster variety. "It was a of the Rhino family. It's a fairly large monster with a light blue mane and two long fangs on each side of its head. You can't miss it; it sticks out like a sore thumb. When it senses that it's in danger, it calls in other smaller Rhinos for help. Its' charge attack is like a bulldozer; it crushes anything in its path. The horns are the deadliest part but not because of how long and sharp they are. Those horns channel volatile lightning through them and then shoots them out. Get hit by that and you'll wind up being paralyzed" he said. He then leaned forward a bit, placing his elbows on his knees and puts his hands together up to his chin. "What it's known most for is its scales and thick skin. It's as strong as adamantite which means physical hits don't do much to it. When I fought it, I managed to break part of its outer shell, opening up a weak point but it quickly fled when it caught on to its exposed weakness" he said.

Lynette held her hand up to her chin in thought. "It must be aware of its weak point which would explain why it's hard to pin down to one area. It's intelligent and cautious, traits only certain breeds of monsters have" she said. Moments later, she realized something that didn't sound right. "Wait, you said it attacks anything it sees, yet flees when it senses that it's in danger because of the exposed shell. Then, why is it even attacking at all? If it's intelligent, it would know to avoid putting itself in danger until it healed" she said.

Phi nodded. "You're exactly right, Lyn. I thought the same thing as well. I did some research into this Lord of the Woods and based on what I've read, despite how it appears, it is a passive monster. It only attacks when threatened, not spontaneously" she said. She couldn't explain why it would suddenly change behavior. It didn't make any sense and only adds to the strange events that have been occurring as of late.

Tsuki had a flashback to when he had encountered the Rhybgaro and how Reia told him they were docile monsters unless threatened. "This is just like the Rhybgaro on Celestial Hills. Attacking without provocation, sudden irrational change in monster behavior, docile monsters suddenly becoming violent..." he said.

Georg looked over at Tsuki. "Wait, did you say Rhybgaro? Were you attacked by one?" he asked.

Phi shook her head. "No, that doesn't make any sense. Not only do they tend to avoid Humans, this is hibernation season for them" she said.

Tsuki nodded. "It's pretty surprising, isn't it? The Rhybgaro's behavior was completely different. I soon discovered that it was being controlled by some sort of crystal jewel that contained...some sort of dark energy" he said. It seems that every strange event that they've heard about or encountered all have one thing in common and it was that strange purple jewel that radiated a sinister power.

Phi tilted her head a bit. There were many jewels, gems and crystals that had magic infused in them but none of them should be ab le to cause such a drastic change. "What do you mean by, 'some sort of dark energy'?" she asked.

Tsuki looked down at the palm of his hand. "Reia attempted to appraise the magic inside of the jewel. However, the jewel had a violent reaction to it. She chucked the thing over the ocean and watched it explode" he said.

Georg was surprised to hear that Reia, of all people, failed to succesfully appraise an object. Moreover than that, appraisals don't tamper with the magic inside of said object so the fact that it ended up exploding was interesting. "Did she describe what she felt? She must have picked up on at least something" he asked.

Tsuki looked up into the fire. "She described it as unnatural, twisted and, moreover, alive" he said. He had more flashbacks of the Rhybgaro and then some of Yuno when he was controlling a similar object. "That Magister also had a similar object embedded in his staff and had control over it. The explosion you guys heard earlier was the result of that object being smashed into pieces against a wall" he said.

Lynette scratched her head. Everything kept going back to the same source. "These jewels seems to be the cause of all this but the question is, where did these jewels come from all of a sudden? Could they be related to the unknown cargo that was found in Basilwell?" she asked.

Tsuki shook his head. "It's quite possible. The more these jewels keep popping up, the more likely that seems to be the case. All the more reason we need to hurry on to Basilwell as soon as possible" he said.

Phi stood up and stretched a bit. "Then, you should get some rest and leave in the morning. I can go with you as far as the base of the mountain before we'll have to go separate ways" she said. She then turned around and started to head to one of the tents that were set up. "I'm going to clock out early. I suggest you do the same. It's going to be a long day for us" she said.

Phi went off to her tent while everyone else stuck around the fire pit for a while longer. As she walked off, Lynette sighed a bit. "Looks like it's going to be another early morning. I'm starting to miss the comforts of sleeping in on a nice, soft bed" she said.

Tsuki and Georg laughed a bit at her comment as they continued talking about various other topics when some of the freed captives soon decided to join in on. It wasn't until about two hours later that Tsuki and Lynette decided to call it quits for the day. They were going to need as much of their energy as possible. Tsuki and Lynette ended up sharing the same tent from their own Camping Set since the other one that came with the Set was being using by the knights and captives. It was a bit weird for them to share a tent together but they both wouldn't have to worry about that since they both managed to fall asleep relatively quickly due to how physically and mentally exhausted they both were. Tsuki was the first to fall asleep since he had experienced so many revelations all at once. Before he drifted to sleep though, he thought about all he had learned in the last few hours as his thoughts soon shifted to his sister. He wondered where she could be and what she could be doing at that moment. He would soon take these thoughts into his dreams where he would dream about his childhood, a time where things used to be so simple, to briefly escape the stresses of reality. The days ahead of them were going to were only going to get harder.

To be continued...