Topic: The Valis Crystal: Fragments

[Ramzal]

Sorry about the posting constantly. I was editing some stuff, went over the posting limit and...well, stuff happened. My bad!

At the very least, here's a mug shot of how Oscar looks.

http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/498/ramzaloscar.png

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In a time long forgotten... When the land was still one, a great war ignited. A war between men and demons. Darkness covered the planet as men, sorcerers and demons fought each other to claim control over the lands. In the darkest moments, Warriors and powerful Sorcerers formed a pact to work together and defeat the demons. But still, their combined forces struggled against the dark beings.
 
So the Warriors and Sorcerers decided to turn towards the gods and received a gift in the midst of their pleas.
 
The: Valis Crystal.
 
This crystal---a gift from the gods, held a power to create miracles. The power to raise the dead - the ability to give a man the strength of twenty, and even the power to destroy. The Warriors and Sorcerers of the time used the crystals powers to these ends and thus was able to drive back the demon hordes after a summer of war. Yet, when the war was over, the Warriors and Sorcerers began to fight over who would take ownership over the Crystal.
 
In the end, the Warriors made the foolish choice to attempt to destroy the Valis Crystal. A decision in which caused a massive explosion through the lands; as well as leading to natural disasters to overcome the land. Floods, Hurricanes, Storms, and Magma erupting from the earth. In the end, these cataclysmic events tore the land asunder - splitting it as well as lands being submerged into the oceans.
 
It's said that even though this gift from the gods was destroyed, the pieces lay hidden, to once again be placed together to form the Valis Crystal.
 
 
 
 
Chapter 1 Yanal. Part 1.
 
Page 1:
 
"Ah! How I love the feeling of the morning sun on my face...!" A young girl said as she looks up towards the sky while sitting on a grassy hill, lightly pressing her palm against her forehead to block direct sunlight from her purple eyes. Standing with a wide smile across her face, she bent over and picked an old wicker basket off the ground and began walking uphill. The handle was loose due to it's age as well as the woven threads had many splits along the seams and ends.
 
She always saw these flaws but never took the time to attempt to fix them due to her being satisfied by it being useful enough as it was.
 
Reaching the top of the hill, she reached an old tree that stood over fifty feet tall and housed hundreds of fruit in it's branches. Pink circular fruits with purple stems hung from the tree, as if they were waiting to be picked by her. She smirked as she got closer to the tree and placed her hand against the trunk.
 
"Alright, tree. I'm only going to take a few Ikilo berries from you today. I'll try to be gentle, okay?" she said to the tree as she closed her eyes and her smirk faded slowly.
 
She felt the wind blow against her cheek softly and her long braids on each side of her head begin to be lifted. The leaves of the tree rustled lightly at first and suddenly change to a violent rustling as the branches swayed from left to right, or up and down. Ikilo berries began to dangle from the branches--back and forth as some began to fall and hit the ground.
 
She opened her eyes slowly and looked towards the fallen berries. "One... two... three... four... six! Okay! That's enough to make a pie! Thank you for baring with me." She stroked the tree with her hand as she turned away and picked the Ikilo's from the ground and place them in her basket. As she went to pick up the sixth one from the ground, she noticed that it hadn't turned completely pink yet. And it's texture was rather rough.
 
"Oh. This one is no good." She placed it back on the ground and looked up at the tree. "Um. Sorry to bother you but can you spare one more?" She stared at the tree as a brief silence filled the air. "Well. I know it doesn't feel great but I need just one more. Please?" Once more, silence filled the air. "Well fine! No one wants any Ikilo's from a worn out second rate tree like you anyway!"
 
Turning away from the tree and placing her left hand on her hip, she huffed while sticking her nose in the air. The tree's leaves began rustling lightly; an a snap was heard from above. She looked up quickly enough to have a Ikilo land on her forehead.
 
"Ouch!" She rubbed her forehead before glaring at the tree than picking the berry off the ground. "Jerk..." She placed the berry in her basket and sighed. "Well, at least it's ripe... and my skull is fractured." She began to walk down the hill thinking to herself as to how uncomfortable she made the tree by taking it's fruits from it's branches. Maybe it was an act of harshness and mutilation... After all, how would she feel if someone one came and just ripped her hair off her head just because they thought they needed it.
 
She then began to realize how illogical this thought was, and her rumbling stomach only helped to verify this.
 
"I need to hurry home. I'm starved and I'm sure everyone is waiting for me to get back. I shouldn't have daydreamed off like that... Dinner is probably going to be late because of me..." She shook her head as a hand gripped her shoulder. "Yes, it will be." A stern voice from behind her spoke.
 
She gasped while her eyes widened and the basket dropped from her hand. She felt a chill down her spine. "I... I... I..." she began to turn her head towards the voice.
 
"No excuses, sister. You day dreamt out here for almost an hour and mother was worried. And I had to come here to find you. Thank you, Kana." the voice came from her brother who stood at average height of five-nine, with long blonde, punk styled hair, a light skin completion, leather armor breastpad, linen pants with a drab tone of blue and dusty leather boots, with a sword and sheath strapped to his back. His most defining detail being his Blondie haired monkey like tail.
 
"Brother! You know how I hate it when you sneak up on me!" *she turned fully and gave him a punch to the gut with her little balled fist. "You make me so mad!" He hunched over; placing his arms around his abdomen as she straightened out her now ruffled red long sleeved shirt from frustratingly lashing out at her brother.
 
"Oh! You really put all you had into that punch! I think you really ruptured my stomach. I... think I'm seeing a bright light! It looks so beautiful..." he fell on the ground, he laid out flat as his arms and legs were spread out.
 
Kana was not amused.
 
She walked over to her basket and picked it up as well as placing what berries fell from it inside. "You big wimp. I didn't even hit you that hard. You love drama too much, brother." She began to walk away as he slowly sat up and rose to his feet.  
"And it seems to get harder and harder to make you laugh as you get older, sister." He started walking eventually catching up to her.
 
The two could hardly be recognized as brother and sister from first sight. His completion comes in complete contrast with her darker toned skin as well as her green toned hair color being in contrast with his Blondie. Their age difference did not help in determining their sibling status seeing as he is a nineteen year old young man and she just recently turned eight.
 
Although a way that made it easy for people where they lived to tell if they were brother and sister was either they were seen enjoying each others company or being frustrated at one another. Sometimes to the point where strangers would believe that her brother was a random man - scolding a young innocent child because he can. At those times, Kana would explain that he is her older brother before the situation would escalate.
 
As much as she argued with him, or how much she would almost have him arrested by accident by the local authorities, she still loved her brother though. She was forced to live in this world of life bound cliches as most others.
 
"So brother. What were you doing at home? I thought father had just hired you for work." Kana said as she looked into her basket, trying to make sure she didn't forget to pick a berry off the ground.  
 
"He hired me two months ago for your information. But I... was on vacation for a week. So I came back earlier than he did. I just went out of town for awhile is all."
 
She turned her head towards him and narrowed her eyes. "Two months and you're already taking vacations?! You just decided to take one in two months?! You're SO lazy! I bet you went to Ulto to gamble on Jinu racing didn't you?" He rubbed the back of his head as he coughed. "
 
Well... yeah..." He replied as she stopped in her tracks and pointed at him. "We're struggling to live and you gamble what you have rather than contributing?! You lazy good for nothing!"
 
His head hung as he dug in his pocket and dragged out a small leather purse with a horse haired rope tying it. "I did win some coins..." She looked up him, still irate but started to rid herself of her frown. "How much did you go there with...?" she asked as she snatched the sack from him.  
 
"Six silver pieces." he replied as he shrugged.
 
As she opened the sack she sighed. "Two gold pieces...? Brother... Ten silvers make one gold in value. You didn't win THAT much..." she said, disappointed.  
 
"It's something, okay? I'm trying my best out there, you know!" he snapped back at her. "Well it's not enough! There are four mouths to feed and only two gold pieces isn't enough! You lazy bum!" she shouted harshly awhile tying the purse closed again.
 
He sighed. "I know..." he leaned his head downwards.
 
"You're worthless." She placed the purse in the basket.
 
"You're right..." He leaned his head down more.
 
"The WORST!" She huffed as she looked at the hand that gave her the purse. It was wrapped in white bandages as usual to make his blade wielding easier but there was fresh blood leaking through them. "... And your hand is bleeding. I bet you went somewhere dangerous to gamble again and got roughed up by thugs that you owe money to." She reached for his hand and held it with her free hand.
 
"... Yeah. I owed them a few silver pieces and they wouldn't take a 'I'm sorry' or 'give me more time.'" He sad while putting on a sad and pathetic face.
 
Kana shook her head and let go of his hand. "Lets go back to town... the healing house is still open and they only charge a copper piece for injuries still..." she shook her head once more as she thought of what a useless bum of a brother she has. A life bound by cliches indeed she thought.
 
As they walked through the grassland, the two approached a road that was paved to make travel for merchants, Pilgrims and travelers easier. Kana walked off the grass and onto the road, looking towards the left she spotted a familiar sign that was made from a wooden stick with large arrows pointing towards the north, south and east.
 
"Well, since we're going home, brother, we'll take the south road back to Ranga." Kana stopped in front of the sign as her brother stopped as well, shaking his head.  
 
"You said that as if I didn't know my way back home, Kana. In fact, it was me who taught you how to read in the first place---never mind what most signs look like." She huffed while looking at the sign "Well, once and while you come home and you stumble and crash into things while bleeding, brother. It's a wonder you ever know your way back home from your gambling skirmishes."
 
He sighed and shrugged as he dismissed what he believed to be her nagging towards him. "But I have a question for you brother." Kana placed her basket down and approached the sign.  
 
"Yes?"  he replied as she stopped in front of it.  
 
"I know that Ulto, the gambling town is to the north--where you keep getting in trouble at by the way, and that to the south is Ranga, our home town... But what is this place, "Kevana"? You never told me about it."
 
Her brother put his hands on his hips and looked at her. "I didn't tell you because you didn't have to know. You were young enough to not be told. Even now, telling you should be out of the question... but..." Kana tilted her head. "But?" Her brother rubbed his cheek with his thumb, thinking of if he should bother explaining the politics of the towns to her. She was always a highly intelligent child for her age, but there were subjects that would evade even her understanding.
 
"Alright. I'll explain it to you, but it's a matter of knowing about the area all together." he came to the sign and placed his index finger on top of the arrow that read 'Ranga'. "Ranga is our home town. Until forty years ago, it was a much smaller and rural village until a certain research project was finished by a scientist who lived there named 'Dr. Tui.' Dr. Tui was researching a way to make a boat that flies in the air rather than traveling by sea."
 
Kana nodded silently as he continued. "Everyone thought he was insane to so much as believe that a ship could fly in the air. It took him twenty years of research though and he accomplished just that. I'm not a technological type so you would have to ask someone who understands how he did it. Regardless, after his research was done and the first air bound ship was created, the lords of the lands began to catch wind of this and fund Dr. Tui to make more ships for travel or even war use."
 
"When funding started coming in, Dr. Tui used the money to develop air ships for the village to make trade easier. Kevana is a trade and business town which houses everything from food, medical herbs, to cloth. Ranga being a rural village at the time needed those supplies from Kevana through trade. But traveling to Kevana by foot takes twenty six days. So the easiest solution was to trade by these ships. Soon enough, ship yards were built to house the airships and this expanded the village into a town sized area." He said as Kana tugged on his arm.
 
"And dad owns one of the ship yards. One that you have a job for protecting the airships when they take off. But all you do is slack off, you bum."  
 
He nudged her hand off of his arm. "Har har you little green headed midget. Now, as I was saying that's what Kevana town is and why we're connected to it through air-travel. As far as Ulto goes, it's a gambling city. By connecting Ulto to the travel plans, many travelers can decide to take time off, forget their problems and gamble."
 
"They have betting houses in Ulto as well as coliseums to either participate in or spectate and bet cash on. They... also have... um. Other businesses there." He said while he dropped his hands and his face began to blush slowly as a grin came across his face.  
 
Oh? What kind?" Kana asked while looking at his now beat red face.  
 
"Um...! Meat shacks! Yeah! Heheheh...heee...." he said as a long and odd silence filled the air.
 
"...Okayyyy. Whatever, brother. But thank you for the info!" Kana regained her poise for carrying the berries and continued for Ranga.
 
Meanwhile, as the brother and sister continued along their way. Not far below their feet laid a sewage system... Where the gears of fate began to grind.  
 
Quickly paced footsteps caused the mucky water of the sewers to kick up and disturb the small vermin in the area. They rushed into their holes in the floors and walls as the steps came their way. As the footsteps passed their holes and spots in the decor just as quickly as they came, they began to rise from their homes and inspect the figure running in terror. As they turned their bodies in the opposite direction, the only sight they beheld were thousands of red illuminate spots, shaking from right to left, up and down, in all directions wildly. As the lights passed, life in the holes did as well.
 
"Haas! Haas...! Haas...!" The figure came to a sudden halt as a large wall was all to be found at the end of the passage way. "No.... a.... dead end...." Quickly turning, the sight of the red spots were seen not forty feet away. Bouncing in all directions, quickly. A sudden shriek was hear from their direction. A loud call that sent chills down the pursue's spine to the very core of it's existence. "... ... ..."
 
As the lights quickly approached the figure's location, a hand was reached behind tattered robes, quickly unstrapping a rod from behind. Holding the rod towards the figures, it began to glow as this person began go speak in an odd tongue. The sewers reacted to the glow as they began to have light shinned in all directions. Now, the pursuers could be seen. Their long and gritty, grimy sharp teeth flashed sharply in the light, their green, bubbled and scaled skin as well as their sharp claws were as bright as day to the figure.
 
Before the pursuers could make contact with their target, the sewer was completely covered with light as the creatures shielded their eyes from the brightness. In a moments notice, there was no more brightness for these creatures. Only darkness as their bodies laid limp in the sewers waters while smoke raised from the majority of their mangled bodies and lost limbs.
 
"... ha.... ha... ha...." the figure turned towards the right, looking up, a small duct was spotted. It looked like a rather tight fit as the figure walked towards the duct. ".... I would rather not---" the complaining of these ducts were cut short by the howls of creatures. When they arrived, they saw nothing but their fallen brethren. The creatures arched their backs and gave a mighty cry. Not only to let the figure know that they are coming, but to instill the thought of payment for these deeds...
 
The figure faded back into darkness as the brother and sister embraced the light.

                                                                  

[Ramzal]

                                                                         *****          
 
Kana and her brother entered their home town "Ranga". The town was a lively place due to the relations with Kevana and Ulto, it always overflowed with commerce. Food stands, weapon shops, bars, inns, clothing shops, and even jewelry shops. Ranga's crowds consisted of the local population of the town, traveling merchants, your basic drifters, nobles, and a casual pickpockets and thugs.
 
"Fresh fish!", "You'll never find more juicy fruit than mine!", "Jewels! Diamonds! Earrings! Come ladies, and even men, a whole sale is here!" These were the cries of the hungry independent merchants that would set up their homemade stands, consisting of old wood nailed together or even just a simple bed cloth laid on the ground to place their goods over if they could not find a means of making their own stands. The merchants had little at times, but worked hard during the day and night by their little areas. Sometimes, their work would go unrewarded as young thieves would rush by and snatch whatever the will from the merchants. And at times, nobles would took their ego's to the skies would trample the merchants floor stands by means of horse riding-- simply as a past time .
 
Kana sucked her teeth as she witnessed a noble, dressed in royal blue dismounted his horse to simply to give criticism to a dirty clothed merchant's jewelry wears. Constructive criticism was obviously a term that was lost to this man. "Whattttttt?! You call -this- a golden ring?" the noble brought the ring to his teeth and pressed them down onto the ring as it began to bend slowly. "Do you see this? You see this, do you not? HOW can THIS be actual gold and be sold as such?" he showed the merchant the ring and tossed it over his shoulder and into a drainage ditch, where the ring sank into the mucky water below.
 
The merchant did nothing in response to this noble's actions. He did not even speak a word, he simply stared down at the nobles well polished, black, knee high boots with a expression of helplessness. He knew that if he should even speak out against the noble, he could be arrested under charges of 'Verbal assault against a higher privileged citizen'. The noble obviously knew he had the upper hand and took his time, bathing himself in his undeserved "power" and social standing.
 
"I've seen TIN CANS more durable than your wares, merchant!" the noble gave a large grin as he became highly intoxicated in his advantage over this man. He lifted his polished boot and scooped it under the cloth. "If you want to make a profit, than how about next time, you sell some jeweler that isn't worthless!" He lifted his leg at the cloth came up with it as well as all of the merchants jewels. The scattered against the ground and a good portion of them fell into the drainage ditch once more.
 
The merchant simply bowed down towards the noble, pressing his hands against the merchant's boot. "I am sorry, sir. Next time, I will have jewels that will catch your fancy as well as your taste."  
 
The noble placed his other foot back to the ground and nodded with his hands on his hips. "Well, you'd better. Because you cannot make a living off of these pieces of---" as he began to go on another trip on his own title, he felt a sharp pain in his left shin. He slowly opened his mouth and his eyes began to water quickly. Within seconds, the noble kneeled down to grab his shin as he began to howl from the pain.
 
 "...I know she did not just do that..." Kana's brother sighed, placing his hand on his forehead and began shaking his head back and forth.  
 
Kana moved in front of the noble - getting in between him and the merchant---who's jaw could hit the ground at the moment if only he could dislocate it at will. Shocked that of all things to come to his defense, a little green haired girl did. "What kind of manors did your mother teach you?! Did she tell you that you can pick on any person you feel like, on a whim?! You are a bad man and you are a shame to all things that breathe! Apologize to him!" she crossed her arms and looked the angered noble in the eyes with a glare that could pierce even the thickest breastplate made of Damustone.
 
But that did not intimidate the noble. No, in fact it merely added a sense of annoyance on top of his frustration and embarrassment of being talked down to by a child. "Why you---how DARE you lay hands on a noble young girl?! Why, there is only one punishment fitting for one such as you!" he reached to the side of his waist to grab the handle of his rapier that was concealed within his cape. He unsheathed it quicker than ones eye can keep up with and he raised it well above his head, the end point of the blade, aimed for Kana's chest.
 
"You will learn respect, so you will know how to speak to nobles correctly in Celeste!" he thrust his sword downward as hard and quickly as possible. Kana was unfazed though. She continued to look him square in the eyes. She would not flinch. She would not jump or roll to the side. She had a reason for sticking up for the merchant. She had a point to prove that because you were rich, you were not better than the next man. She had a -short- fuse for arrogance.
 
As the blade drew closer and closer towards Kana, the nobles thrust was brought to a halt.... he looked behind him--no one took hold of his arm or hand... But when he focused his sight in front of himself. There stood Kana's brother, giving a large sigh and shaking his head. "Really now. Lashing out at a child---with a blade no less. It seems your cowardice has no ends." He looked into the nobles face with an expression of disgust.
 
The noble glared at him and stuck his lips up towards his nose. "You---dirty, FILTHY LOW BORN! YOU COMMON TRASH! I WILL TEACH YOU TO---" her brother shook his head once more.  
 
"I---never knew the kingdom had such disgusting traits among their nobles. If only---" he raised his forearm upward and pressed his fingers against his forehead. "there was a means of reporting you..." The nobles eyes suddenly opened widely as his frustration began to be checked.
 
"You... MPH! The Renewal family will not stand for this!" he sheathed his rapier and turned towards his horse, mounting it. "You and your town of insects will hear from certain enforcers of ours soon enough." The noble tugged on the horses rimes and trotted off in the opposite direction. Kana's brother grabbed his sister's hand and began walking away. "
 
You pull one more stunt like that, and I WILL tell mother, understood!"
 
Kana paid no mind to her brother's scolding. Instead, she grinned as the noble road off on his own way. Back to what she believed to be his hollow existence in his large and lonely, large home. As the two left the merchant looked at the ground where they once stood. There was a trail of smoke in the air that was traveling downwind and disappearing.
 
After several street venders and stores, they finally arrived in the housing district of Ranga. There was a healing house that stood at the very beginning of the district due to past home robberies or assaults, it has been difficult to get the wounded to the healing house in the business district. Making it convenient for the less fortunate who had lowlifes that would catch them alone at night.
 
Kana tugged her brother in as they pushed through the hinged doors. "Welcome to the healing house. We specialize in anything from minor to major injuries. We can ever help lessen the effects of over use of ailes and wines through the magic of holy healing arts." A priestess wearing a shimmering white robe with her chestnut toned long hair flowed from her cap approached the two, smiling warmly and looking to the siblings with her heterochromia hazel and blue eyes as the stood near the entrance, taking a look at the decor of the building. Everything was made from stone but painted in a fine bronze tone that reflected the sunlight beaming through the stainless windows above and from the side.
 
It held long benches that were fit for prayer as well as two bath units on each side of the building, filled with clear sparkling water. Above the tubs, there were statues of bronze angels holding tilted grails that pour the water from them and into the tubs.
 
Kana turned her attention back at the priestess as she pointed directly at her brother with her index finger. "Hi, Melony. This doofus got himself hurt gambling and owing people money again. Can you fix him?"  
 
Kana made a disgruntled face as her brother glared down at her. "...Honestly...?" Melony tilted her head towards Kana's brother as his tail began to move back and forth quickly.  
 
"Yes. I got into some problems over at Ulto with some rough guys." Melony walked to him and took hold of his forearm as his tail began to bat back and forth even quicker.
 
"Come this way then... While I do -not- agree with your chosen lifestyle, I will however teach you none the less." Melony turned his forearm to check for injuries as her eyes made contact with his fingers. "This is...an oddity." He leaned his head to the side and raised an eyebrow.  
 
"What is?" Melony rubber her frail index finger against his. Beside the rough feeling, there was a dark dusty substance that came off on her hand.  
 
"It...seems like you have small burn or friction marks on your fingers. Oddly enough, there is soot on them." Kana gave a confused look towards her brother.
 
"Which means...?" Kana asked while putting her hands on her hips.
 
 Melony shook her head and simply began leading him away. "Nothing to be too concerned off. I will be done with him momentarily. Please, sit and wait. This won't take long." As Melony and her brother began walking away, Kana walked to the benches and sat, looking at the scattered art placed on the walls.
 
"Hm... I wonder why artist like painting naked..."
 
Kana's brother and Melony walked side by side to the back of the healing house, stopping in front of two wooden doors which stood at seven feet and five feet in width per door. Melony held her palms out towards the doors, closing her eyes and began to speak an incantation.
 
"Utafum ku nopa tipa, inu!" Melony spoke as her hands began to glow, resonate and pulse with energy. Her eyes opened and just as they did, the light from her hands diffuse into the air and fade away. The doors began to glow as a complex rune of light appeared over them, glowing and pulsing as her hands were.
 
The rune was in the shape of a diamond, with uncommon symbols--slightly resembling their language system. Yet they differed in the sense that the symbols were much more detailed as well as having awkward strokes to them. To the people who know of magics, it was invoked by means of ancient languages and symbols.
 
Kana's brother looked towards the rune with disappointed facial expression. He shook his head and turned towards Melony as the runes began to fade. "After five years of studying in this healing house, you still lose your breath after casting a 'first Celeste sealing rite' spell?"
 
Melony placed her hand over her chest, attempting to regain her composure. "For your information, I have been able to cast and dispel up to the third sealing rite. Although, that simply takes too much out of me and I would need to rest for hours afterward." She sighed and dropped her hand. "Beside that..."
 
"You've taken an oath to be humble about your abilities, right?" he cut in -- smirking as he walked to the doors, swinging them open and walking inside.
 
Melony looked upward. "That I have. It can be hard at times but it can also check the ego's between the brother and sister healers. But in the long run I believe people respect us for---wait. You were teasing me, weren't you?"
 
He shrugged his arms and gave a hearty laugh as he came into the room fully. Melony gave a highly irate glare towards his back as her cheeks blushed, as she followed behind him, closing the doors behind herself. The inside of the room was a squared room made of nothing but sturdy and aged brick. Four silver toned poles, with swirled engravings held candles from the top, giving off a rather relaxing aroma.
 
In the center of the room stood a tub made of smoothed irons, grooved into the ground - holding sparkling clear water inside of it. The water shimmered as if it held hundreds of stars within itself.
 
He stopped in front of the bath, staring downward towards it; looking over his shoulder towards Melony, he grabbed his clothes, beginning to undress himself. "Ahem... if you don't mind...?"
 
Melony nodded as she turned away from him, facing towards the doors. "So what happened this time?"
 
As he undressed, more and more of his body became exposed. His body was extremely well toned in a comparison to someone with physical experience. "It's as Kana says. I was 'gambling'. And got mixed up with the wrong people."
 
Melony placed her hands on her hips and huffed. "What kind of wrong people?"
 
He was now fully undressed. He bent over the tub, placing his hand in it to check the water temperature. As he did, the numerous scars that were over his body, both large and small, wide and thin were exposed. Even fresh cuts on both his torso and back. They could not have been more than three days old.
 
"Just... the wrong people." He placed his legs into the tub, sinking himself in as his tail and mid-body soon followed. As he sat in the tub with his arms rested on the edges he cringed and sucked his teeth. "This ALWAYS stings. I would prefer a treatment that did not cause this level of discomfort---and you can turn around now."
 
Melony turned and made her way towards him. "You complain too much." Bending back, she placed her hands on his shoulders. "Vau ku uup!" her hands glow once again, as she spoke the incantation the glow spread to his body and into the water. She removed her hands from his shoulders, taking several steps back, looking down at his clothes.
 
"Thank you. I haven't been to a healing recently, so these scars tend to stick around. And I haven't heard you speak a healing spell in awhile." He said as he began to become more and more relaxed. His wounds began to close slowly as a sort of steam billowed out of them.
 
"So. Did you make any income from your... 'gambling'? " She remarked as she inspected his clothes, stained with dry blood on the inside linen.
 
"...Check the purse in my left pant pocket." He gestured over towards his pants with a wave of his hand.
 
Melony dug her hand into the pocket only to find a purse. One much different than what Kana held in her hands. This one was sown with a golden toned thread that felt smoother than cotton. On the back of it was a coin stitched to it, she inspected it seeing engravings of two dragons intertwined, and facing each other, and a sword in between the two dragons bodies that are coiled around it's blade. "...." She opened the purse only for her eyes to widen. "Oh my....!"
 
Melony faced the back of his head quickly. "There are....six Rine-stones in here! ONE is enough to be exchanged for a THOUSAND gold pieces!"
 
"....Take two of those. A donation for the healing house." He looked towards the ceiling and exhaled.
 
Melony marched towards him, on the other side of the tub and looked him in the eyes. "When she said gambling I would NOT have thought it was---"
 
He raised his hand and shook his head. "Yes. It is the same 'thing' I have been doing for years."
 
Melony looked him in the eyes. It was obvious to him that she was livid. "If you keep this up. Kana will---"
 
"Never know. She will be ignorant of this, and continue to live a nice, comfortable but not lavish---life." He said while looking her back in the eyes.
 
"... You think you're protecting her. But this CAN come back to you. And when it does... she may not have a life at all. Or at least, she may have a life... but would wish someone would kill her." Melony said as she shook the purse towards him.
 
"...Melony... I just..." He looked downward, while sighing.
 
"No! No excuses this time. This time, you need to talk about---" she was once again cut off by him.
 
"Actually. I was just going to say that you are now standing right in front of me, looking at me while I'm...exposed here..." he stated as he moved his hands under the water in an attempt to retain some dignity.
 
"...Oh...Oh my." she turned away and covered her eyes.  
 
He sighed as he felt the stinging in his body fade. As he stood out of the water, his wounds healed and his scars faded into smooth skin. He looked over himself while paying no mind to the embarrassed Melony.
 
"Thank you, Melony. This will do good." He walked over towards a towel laid to the side of the bath for him, and proceeded to dry himself off before dressing himself once more. "There. All set to go."
 
Melony sighed heavily and shook her head. "I am surprised that you want to heal your scars too. Most men leave them there as something to boast about."
 
"... ... Most men are cowardly show offs. They get a scar from something trivial; more than likely--a situation they survived out of luck. I'm different." He said as he walked towards the door.
 
Melony follow him as looked towards the ground. "Different...?"
 
He looked upward and shook his head. "I hide my scars to protect something more precious to me than my pride. I---" he was suddenly cut off as he opened the door, finding a swift kick to the shin. "OUCH! OUCH!" Bending over, he rubbed his leg and looked upward towards his attacker.
 
"You left me all alone in a part of the healing house with a bunch of naked people on the ceilings and walls. That's no way to treat a lady!" Kana stood in front of her brother, hands on hips and with her nose in the air.
 
"What...what kind of reasoning is that for a cheap sneak attack?!" He shouted as he stood and poked her forehead with his index finger.
 
"Excuse me..." Melony raised her hand in protest of the two fighting.
 
"Perfect reasoning! It's perversion to put things like that, up where anyone can see it! You should have known better!" She stomped her foot, looking up into his eyes.
 
"You little punk. You've been in here several times. You've seen these painting. You know you just wanted an excuse to hit me!" He narrowed his eyes towards her and pushed Kana back with his finger in a teasing manner.
 
"... EXCUSE ME! Either you two can calm down or I will escort you BOTH out of this healing house by YOUR ear and YOUR tail!" Melony shouted as her tolerance reached a breaking point. She pointed towards the entrance door of the healing house insisting they both leave.
 
"Fine... your healing water felt like a bed of rocks anyway." He said as he began to walk out, placing his hand on Kana's back.
 
"Yeah! And your naked people have small pe---" Kana felt herself  be whisked into the air and rushed out the door as her brother lifted her on top his shoulders.
 
"OH! YOU TWO! GET BACK HERE!" Melony lifted her dress so she could give pursuit of the two siblings, but she was too far behind to keep up with his speed.
 
"Alright, Kana! That's enough of offending the religious body for one day!" He took the first turn in the street and began running towards their home.
 
Kana, in truth, always had much tolerance for religion and as well as their followers. She also looked up towards the healers of the healing houses for tending to the injured with unwavering dedication and iron wills. She simply loved to tease Melony because she was an old friend of her brothers. She always saw Melony around him so, it made Kana jealous of the amount of attention Melony was getting over her. In fact, he had been visiting Melony very often. Once or three times every week he'd come back from his gambling.
 
Maybe... a girlfriend of his? The thought occurred to her and it only made her jealousy worse. She remembered that just one spring ago, herself and her brother began to play house together. He was the father and she was the mother. She Always adored him for posing as a responsible figure--even though she knew he was a lazy do nothing at heart. But sometime after they began playing, he started to pay less attention towards Kana and more time visiting the healing house and Melony.
 
This fact made her believe that they were together more and more. And the deeper she thought of it. It made her feel a little ignored down inside.
 
As they approached their home in the slums of the town, their faces widened with joy. Kana because even though her home was in the lowest of the low areas. It was still home to her. She loved to skip around in the house, talk to her mother and father about her day, and even help her mother cook. Her brother, on the other hand, was more interested in the taste of Kana and his mother's cooking.
 
As they walked in, they were welcomed by the smell of food being prepared in the kitchen. They both tilted their heads backwards and took a long, deep smell of the air.
 
"Boiled grains..." He said while nodding.
 
"Chopped farm harvest..." Kana said while grinning.
 
"Meat slab...roasted over flames and coal." He placed his hand on his chin while looking down towards his sister.
 
"And it smells like...a fresh roll of bread." She looked up, towards him, hopping up and down, clapping her hands together.
 
"And soon, and Ikilo pie to top it off!" he bent down in front of her, placing his hands on top of hers. The both of them, smiling wildly and nodding to each other.
 
"Dad's coming home tonight!" Kana hopped in place several times as she hugged her brother, and let go only to rush into the kitchen. "Mom! Mom! I'm back! Is he here?! Is he here yet?!"
 
A middle aged woman with green hair--much like Kana's--turned from the stove, to her ecstatic little girl and smiled widely towards her. She was wearing a long--faded brown dress and a blue hair pin, holding her braids to the top of her head in a bun shape. She preferred doing this so her hair would not be a disturbance while she is cooking.
 
"Yes, Kana. Father will be here soon enough. I need you to help get those Ikilo berries ready before he gets here though. You know that pie is his favorite dish." She bent over and petted her daughter's hair.
 
Kana tilted her head downward as her mothers hand caressed her hair. Normally, she'd feel as if she is being treated as a child whenever her brother does this to her, but when it came to her mother, she loved it simply because it was what she got whenever her mother was pleased with her.
 
Kana nodded happily as she skipped towards the back of the kitchen and laid out the Ikilo berries on the stand.
 
He walked towards his mother. Digging in his pocket quickly and placing a purse in her hands. "Make the payment a little earlier this time. They are getting impatient."
 
She closed her fingers around the purse, and looked towards the ground. "How can that be right...? I paid them six days earlier then usual last time..."
 
He shook his head and looked towards her. "It's because they only care about money. How much they can make, and how quickly. It's nothing personal to them, but it's just their greed. Please--"
 
She nodded slowly as she placed the purse to her chest. "Yes. I know... But we can't keep living like this... Sooner or later, this won't be enough. Then what will happen...?"
 
"..." He stared at the ground then looked towards a happy Kana who was still preparing the pie. "Nothing will happen if the payment comes in sooner. For now, it's the best I can do."
 
"~Sing a song. Sing a song. Of a time, were land was over come with lies. And there was no pies. No pies for the king, nor queen, nor even the smallest noble family line so long." Kana bounced up and down as she prepared her pies and gained an awkward look from her mother and brother.
 
"...What...? I'm happy to see dad again." She shrugged as she grinned and continued until she her the door knob turn. "It's dad! Dad is here!" Immediately dropping everything in hand, she rushed towards the door as it swung open. "Da---Oh...oh my god..." Her body was now overcome with a state of shock as what was in the opened door now peered down towards her.

                                                                      

[Ramzal]

 *****
 The snarling of the beasts had awoken her, she fell into a slumber from exhaustion in the ruins of a town that once flourished with life, excitement, markets for trade -- was now nothing but pit of death, despair and corpses of the innocent. It was not like this when she had arrived. No, she saw a wonderful town with people going about their normal lives, smiling, singing along with the common bard, even domestic disputes in public. She had raised to her feet, the weary feelings in her arms and legs had vanished as she witnessed the destruction around herself.
 
All of this destruction simply for your little "key"? You're willing to send Reavers to get what you want? This is sickening---even for you.
 
She lifted her head towards her pickle skinned enemies. Unstrapping her staff from her back, she glared towards them as it began to glow violently. "Ipo ku Kenten!" her spell began to manifest as she pointed her staff towards a group of Reavers, baseball sized fireballs emitted from the tip of the staff, colliding with her targets.  
 
They let out a painful squeal--like pigs in a slaughter house--as the fireballs began to roast their bodies where they stood. Three of them fell to her spell as many other stood in awe of their kin falling to their prey so easily.  
 
Three down... only... She glanced at her surroundings. She saw nothing but Reavers around herself. On top of buildings, on ground level with herself, some even standing on top of the corpses of townspeople. Thirty? Maybe forty more? The Goddess does not smile on me today. Possibly caused by the urge to shout "Toasty!" a moment ago.
 
Her moment of calm passed as six Reavers decided that waiting around to be lit on fire might be a poor choice in judgment. A claw thrust towards her face, the Reavers were not monsters who played with their hunt. They went for sudden and sure kills with every swipe they made. The well aimed claw heading for a shallow part in between her eyes was an obvious testimate to this as she narrowly ducked under them.
 
"Penna yu Udra!" she drove her staff into the belly of the beast, the staff glowed to a teal toned color as a powerful stream of water flowed from it, knocking the attacking Reaver and the other five down the street and through an already crumbling wall. The Reavers began to gather together in separate areas. Above their target--on top of buildings, in front of her, to her sides and behind.  
 
Trying to leave no means of escape... they want to make this a "fight for your life" situation. Well, one without me putting up much of a fight. Maybe I can...
 
"Back foul demons! I am a Sage, supreme! Spells such as the ones I casts on your kin are nothing compared to what I can do! Begone or you will feel my wrath!" She thrust her staff in the air with a fierce look in her eyes. Despite her being scared enough to soil herself where she stood, she minimized the obvious in that showing.
 
The deep growls she once heard began to fad as the Reavers began to take several steps back. All of them, in each direction even began to spread out, making distance in their ranks.  
 
I... believed that worked! Maybe they brought my bluff after all. She thought as they began to disappear from her sights. I can't believe that worked---
 
She was cut off from her train of thought as the Reavers reappeared where they once were, only with larger numbers in their ranks.  
 
"Oh---Oops" she said out loud, in a normal speech, as she realized that her shouting did nothing but lure more of them to her location. They were only backing up and spreading out to make more room for their ranks. I honestly did not think there would be this many.  
 
She held out her staff as her enemies drew closer. If she were to die, here, now. She would do it taking as many Reavers down with her. The fact that I killed more than four of them surprises me enough. Oh well... I always wanted to die by being ripped to pieces in large numbers.
 
"Halt!" a stern and firm voice echoed throughout the town as the Reavers ears perked straight into the air. They immediately fell to their knees, placing their claws on the ground, and their eyes saw nothing but gravel, and their own knees. "I'm shocked. You made it to this town? This far? On your on. I must be spoiling my Reavers too much and not letting them hunt as much I they should.."
 
She heard scraping of metal against the stone streets, slowly making it's way towards her. And that voice brought chills down her very spine. As screeching sound of the metal against the stone got closer, and suddenly stopped, she looked ahead of herself to find the owner of the voice, coming from just the one she expected it to be. "Freric..." she muttered as she looked over him.
 
He stood at 164 centimeters---slightly short for a male his age. His looks reflected that of a twenty-two year old. His aquatic blue spiked hair was one of his traits that she always noticed first. It was smooth on the top but became spiked at the ends, which was not quite a common sight but not awfully rare either. He wore a black robe with royal blue stitched lines across the belt area, wrists, and the bottom of the cloth which reached his shins.
 
His skin tone was a light completion, in contrast to the black marks surrounding his eyes. The mark of one of the "Five Executors." the sight of those marks always disturbed me. And he knows it....
 
"Shennie... you should know--"  
 
"It's 'Sheena' you poor excuse for a horse-jockey." she puckered her lips towards him as she wounded his pride.
 
He jerked back for a moment; as if he was punched in the chest. "Harmful words, Sheena." he straightened himself up and rested his weapon on his left shoulder, holding it in his hand. It was a highly impractical weapon. A pole-arm with one end, a spearhead which curved towards it's tip. On the other end, a large silver hammerhead which had single curve end on the opposite side of the blunt end of it.
 
 "You know how I hate to be interrupted AND how people comment on my height..." Freric narrowed his eyes towards her and looked at her with a cold stare. "I've killed for less than that, you know?"
 
Sheena took a pace back, she literally gulped at his statement and began to feel sweat run down her forehead. She was able to hide or at the very least, mask the fact that she was afraid of the Reavers, but when it came to Freric, she was downright frightened of him and she knew he could smell the perspiration off her.
 
"...Hahahahahahha! Oh, Sheenie. You're too easy to tease! How are you old friend? You seem tired... and you've lost weight. You are aware that's no good, correct? No man will wed you; thinking you wouldn't be able to bear his children with such a figure. No good. No good." He wagged his finger towards her like a dog being scolded by it's master. It--quite literally--made her feel like she was his [sonic slicer] in every sense of the word.
 
"... I like my figure as it is, thank you very much!" Sheena pressed her hands on her hips, looking down towards her feet and sighed heavily. Wait... something is wrong here. "So... I take it you were the one who received the order to capture and detain me?" She turned and looked him square in the eye, keeping a tight grip on her staff.
 
Freric nodded continuously, then raising his weapon above his head, and began spinning it on the palm of his hand, the weapon span in perfect balance despite the hammer end being three times as heavy as the spearhead. "Yes. By order of the Druids. Dead or alive."
  
He read her face perfectly. It was one of sadness, but mainly, sorrow. "...Is that why you ordered the Reavers to destroy this entire town? And kill everyone? Just to get to me...?!" The next face he read off her was one of fury. He was always told to never make a lady angry. Despite "there is hell to follow." He was always told that it was just ungentlemanly. Then again, so was telling her he was liable to kill her.
 
"No. Sorry. This town's destruction had nothing to do with you. But rather... This." He stopped spinning his weapon only to dig in his pocket with his free hand. "You see. There's an expression. 'Two birds with one stone'? I'm sure you've heard it before. Well. I suppose that this time, it's going to be revamped to fit the current situation."
 
She tilted her head in confusion. She knew why she was being chased but... what else of interest would there be from herself? Just as she began to ask herself that question, she also began to regret ever remotely thinking  of it.
 
"One bird with two...." his hand raised from his pocket and he opened his palm. In the center of it, a clear object laid there. It shined brightly despite the smog that's filled the town from the chaos. "..Crystal."  
 
Sheena took a step backward as she saw it. It was the very thing she had hoped was not in his hand. "T-that can't...be... it's."
 
"Yes, it can be. The first of many pieces of the 'Gift of the Gods and Goddess.' The 'Rock of fortune.' The 'Valis Crystal.' You would be surprised what is being sold on a street corner. There's a prize in every box shaped market." Freirc gazed into the Valis Crystal fragment as Sheena stood in terror.
 
"If you have that... what do you want with me?" Sheena had gripped her staff with both hands. Clenching her teeth together and praying that what he's holding is a fake.  Please oh GODDESS, tell me he received this false crystal through a box of Cracker Packs!
 
"What I want from you? Nothing... I don't want anything from you. My orders are to search and bring you in dead or alive... and you know why. But, as your friend. I am giving you a head start. Run now. While you can. And don't collapse or fall out again in the middle of the street. I can't be so merciful next time. I'm doing this because you are my friend." Freric shook his head and placed the crystal back in his pocket.  
 
"I want you to run. Get out of here. You have a three day head start. There's a town six days--walking distance--from here if you push hard. If there's still a horse in this town. Two days if you push that. Now. Go. I'm starting to count... now." he glared at her with the intent to kill in his eyes. Meaning to show her that he meant business.
 
Sheena wasted no time, turning to run away. She was relatively close to the town gates where a horse was tied to a post. She looked to the right of the horse to find the dead body of a knight laying on the ground, looking towards the sky. She took the time to press her hand against his eyes, and close them gently. May you know the loving embrace of the Goddess and may she welcome you to her land of brews and feasts until the end of time. Travel safe to your next life. Happiness awaits.
 
Freirc dropped his threatening face to exhale and shake his head. "... I can't bare to tell her who really gave that order..."
 
She road as fiercely aware from the town as possible. A drop of water fell from her, but if this was a tear of pain from being hunted by her own friend; or a sweat of fear of being hunted was unsure to her. But one thing was sure... as she looked at the town's name post--she knew---
 
the town of Ulto was stained with blood, because of her arrival.
  
                                                                      *****
 
"What is the meaning of all this racket at my door?!" Ohan Magisai said in a grumble-- he was highly frustrated that the efforts to cure himself of any form of unfamiliarity. I care not who this cretin is, for my research is being disturbed by this...chaos is ludicrous! I hope there is good reasoning for this situation. As rose from his cotton cushioned chair with leather padding, he walked towards the entrance to his laboratory and opened his door, his hand slammed across his forehead, making it's way down his brown skin toned face slowly.  
  
"Hello, Ohan. A long time since the last time we've seen each other, no?" Freirc stood in front of his doorway, with his arms crossed, looking down at Ohan--who he dwarfs by three feet.  
  
"A long ti---you-you-you-you imbecile! We saw one another just this morning...!" he said as he ran his hand through his bob-cut black hair, shaking his head.  
  
"Please, relax. You're getting upset." Freirc placed his hand on Ohan's shoulder, but only to have it immediately removed by means of a hand swat to the arm.  
  
"Upset?! That is quite the understatement. I am LIVID, you half-wit! What are you doing back here so soon. You could not have found her that quickly. You were never known for your haste." Ohan made a beeline back to his chair and sat down with a rather upset force behind it.  
  
"Actually, I have. You teleportation spells were directly on point--I was able to emerge where the Reavers had her cornered. Oh, and kudos to you--for supplying the lock of her hair for the Reavers to pick up her scent." He looked around Ohan's room while inviting himself in. The same as always.  
  
Books neatly sorted on his shelves, put in proper order. Global information, Spell's, Nature magics, anatomy, and endless subjects reaching as far as different races to wild life subjects.Although, there would be empty slots in the shelves---which were the obvious effects of Ohan's own inquiry. Those books would be removed and stacked on top of his desk and in front of the very chair he sat in. At times, the books would reach six feet off the ground, off of his three foot table.  
  
The room itself was clean, the soft rug covered floors were swept and dusted by the servants daily and the stone walls as well. To the far end of his lavish lab laid a thirty foot long table which held his chemistry sets for his studies ranging from chemicals to magic reactions to natural elements of the planet. Swirls, tubes, and vials as far as the eye can see Freirc turned back to Ohan who was tapping his fingers together in a systematic order. Index, middle, ring, pinky, ring, middle, index.  
  
It was a sign that Freirc knew. Ohan was contemplating. "Well, I DO ensure that my methods are nothing sort of on point. So, I don't suppose it would be dangerous for me to assume that she is in the dungeons, restrained at this very moment?" Ohan asked as he leaned back in his chair further, beginning to feel more calm.  
  
"Yes, it would be dangerous, in fact, I let her go." Freirc said in a rather calm tone as he watched Ohan's fingers stop suddenly, along with any hopes that Ohan would continue to let his frustrations disappear.  
  
"You let her---have you lost what little wits you have?!" He stood and slammed his hands on his table. "Not only did I spend countless months developing the PROCESS of teleportation that- you were the very first to use, mind you--would send you to her very location, but you let her GO? Do you know how complex it is? Do you know what I had to go through to bring the subject of transcending dimensional space and time through the use of dark magics as well as light magics to fruition? Because, I don't believe you do. If you did, you would have appreciated the effort and used it to catch her." Ohan began to pace back and forth with his hands behind his back,  
  
"Not only that, but did you even think--for just a moment--that disobeying the Lord's orders of capturing his own daughter for interrogation just may be a poor choice in judgement? Because--if he would demand the imprisonment of his own daughter, what do you think he would do to you, should he find out?" Ohan stopped pacing and looked upward, giving a long hard sigh.  
  
"Oh, Ohan. I never knew you cared so much for my well being." Freirc gave a playful smile towards Ohan, chuckled.  
  
"Oh, believe me. I am worried of my own well being. The subject of me being in cahoots with your foolishness may arise. The last thing I need is to share chains with you of all." Ohan shot a glare towards him, his black eyes starring right into Freircs.  
  
"..We've known each other for so long. How can I just capture her like she is an animal? I had to at least give her a head start. A chance." Freirc sighed.  
  
...Tsk. Helpless romantic. Ohan sat himself back in his chair. "Just be sure to fix this situation before I fall from grace with you."  
  
He nodded to Ohan. "I intend to. So... what is it that you were occupied with before I interrupted you?"  
  
"The very girl and our Lord were are conversing about---well. to an extent." Ohan placed one of his books in his hands and unfolded it open. The title was bare to Freirc reading: "Forbidden". "Not many people know this outside of myself, your sisters, the Lord, that detestable wife of his, and you, but I feel the need to make the obvious point--due to your lack of an intelligence."  
  
Freirc was not the fool that Ohan made him out to be, as Ohan knew this himself. But he was smarter. He had always taken pleasure in gloating and comparing his knowledge to others. Anyone with sense found it annoying, but that only gave Ohan more reason to do it.  
  
"You, of course, know the story of the Valis Crystal and the struggle between Warriors, Sages, and Monsters. Yes, everyone does. But a detail that the public knowledge is not fully aware of is what the Warriors truly were or the Sages for that matter." Ohan flipped a page in his book, he wasn't speaking of the contents of the pages, but multi-tasking. "You see, what separated the Sages from the Warriors was not simply titles given to the people, but rather, bloodlines."  
  
Freirc sighed and places his hand on his hip. I knew this already... In my blood, there is Warrior blood. My sister is of Sage blood. He had the feeling it may just be more than Ohan showing off his knowledge. Possibly much more than that.  
  
"You see, people who are of Warrior blood are much more fit than the usual person. An example is your ability to use such an odd weapon with a forty pound hammer and a six pound spear head on the other end of a pole-arm, with perfect balance, equilibrium, and stamina stocked enough for you to use it for hours on end... Never mind the ability to leap to ridiculous heights." Ohan looked up at him momentarily before continuing.  
  
"Now, people who are of 'Sage' blood--and I use the term 'Sage' loosely. Can channel magic through almost thin air to the untrained monkeys eye. But in fact, this is due to manipulating the elements of life and energy around us and using runes, or ancient incantations to release those forces as what we see fit. But, there are limits. An example is how I could not create a tidal wave in the desert. I would need to be near a large amount of water--such as a lake, a river, or be able to pull enough moisture from the atmosphere to create water in such a form."  
  
"Now, as I said, the Sage and Warrior lines come from blood...." Ohan said as he closed the book with a large thud.  
  
"You're repeating yourself, Ohan..." Freirc cocked his eyebrow, beginning to go back to the thought that Ohan WAS just flaunting his own knowledge right and left.  
  
"But since that's the case, how is it that you and your sisters can be of two different types?" Ohan leaned his head downward, still looking towards Freirc, but giving a wide fox-like grin towards him.  
  
Freirc was taken back. He crossed his arms and looked at the floor. What is he trying to get to...? Is he trying to say that we aren't...  
  
"Now that's the look I like to see. A mind wandering. For you see, if a Sage has a child with another Sage, then a Sage will be born. Now if a Warrior has a child with another Warrior, than a Warrior will be born. And if a Sage or a Warrior has a child with someone who is neither bloodlines, than it's a fifty-fifty chance that a child who is just normal will come out, against the obvious." He picked up another book and opened it.  
  
"Now... what would happen if the two---a Sage and a Warrior were to have a child, hmmm? What do you think would happen? Will a Sage come as the result? Or will it be of Warrior blood? The answer is... neither."  
  
Freirc's eyes met Ohan's once more, giving him a Stern look. "What are you getting to...?"  
  
Ohan chuckled and smiled widely as he was coming to his point. "You see--"
 
A knock came from the other end of his door. Ohan shook his head out of frustration. Just how many visitors will come to my door before I lose my patience in one fell swoop? Turning words his door, he glanced at Freirc through the corner of his eye, then turned his attention back towards his door. Oh well. I suppose I was being too open with my conversation with this degenerate. It would not do any harm to keep my discoveries to myself. He thought to himself as he approached and opened his door.
 
A female solider who wore a long black robe with blue outlined thread on the ends stood at attention, her facial figure was unrecognizable by the mandatory iron helmets with horned spiked on it's crown. It covered the entire face by means of a detachable mask that was worn. "Lord Freirc. You have been summoned to the conference table by the King."
 
If Ohan could smile any harder, his face would go numb. Freirc nodded towards the female soldier and began making his way out of Ohan's room. "I'm sorry. It seems like I'm needed at the moment, Ohan. We'll continue our conversation another time." He walked out of the room, closing the door behind himself.
 
"Ahhh... Finally. Alone once more." He exhaled slowly while returning to his seat and looking over the pile of books on his desk. "Hmph. All of that talk made me forget what I was reading. Oh well," He reached out for a book that sat on the very edge of his table, bringing it towards himself. Looking at the cover page, it read 'Sorcery, Demology, Celestialic in Populace'. Where to I begin?  
 
Ohan opened his book, flipping through numerous pages with an audible yawn. He smacked his lips together and leaned back to relax himself into his current worn mood. Wait... This seem appropriate. He stopped at a section of the eastern continent of Elis. Flipping further, he continued onto a town labeled "Ranga". Rolling his shoulders he rearranged himself once more to get comfortable.
 
Ranga. Assumed population of nine hundred and twenty five. Peak count of populace: one thousand, three hundred and five as of the year six-twenty two. A large decrease in residence was caused by the first arrival of "Kiran's red mist"---resulting in three hundred and nine survivors. After the mist passed, healers from the surrounding villages came to Ranga to tend to the wounded and aid in a mass Funeral for the deceased.  
 
Healers began to spread the used of Celestialic practice to help the villagers be more prepared for another situation that called for such. Ranga, once being a town without a house of healing now has one of the most established homes of Celestialic magics. It is a popular misconception that Celestialic forces are for healing and protection from psychical damage by means of creating a sheet of solid force in front of a person or object.  
 
Celestalic magic can be used to inflict harm on a person's health, but the damage is usually minimal unless the target receiving the blow is a practitioner of Demology---the form of magics that are drawn from demons as well as the baron lands of Enok which emit Demonic forces from the very earth beneath it. Ranga has been regarded as lower middle class magic city and is not regarded as a threat to other civilizations.
 
Ohan rubbed his eye and looked towards the ceiling. Not all would agree it seems. The King seems to have his own thoughts. And those thoughts are loud and clear.
 
                                                                *****
 
"Papa!" Kana rushed through the doorway, smiling widely and latched onto her father's leg with a tight hug. While she wishes she could actually give him hug that seemed more normal, her father was a rather massive man. He stood at six seven and was a father burly man. His body was filled with highly developed muscle from maintenance on the airships, tuning as well as his personal hobby of weight lifting. Although his arm, and legs with toned, his torso had a round bulge due to his wide belly.  
 
While it was wide and stuck out far, to the distance of his toes, it was solid and lacked the jiggle of a man out of shape.  
 
"Kana! Careful there, urchin, you almost made me fall over!" he gave her a serious and rather angry look as he held several metal objects in his arms.
 
Kana's smile slowly disappeared as her dad scolded her. She let go of his massive leg and took several steps back, letting him walk into the house, watching him through the corner of her eye, out of shame. "I'm sorry poppa... I just haven't see you in awhile..."
 
Her father bent down slightly and placed the objects in the corner of the dining room, and walked back toward's Kana.He saw her Begin to tear up as he got closer. He stood next to her, and raised his massive hand above Kana's head. His dark toned hand found itself on her head as he ruffled her hair. "Bwahahaha! Kiddo! I'm just joking! I meant to jest a little but I forget you don't have the same nerves as your brother." he grinned as Kana gave her dad a sour look.
 
"You're a mean old man!" She crossed her arm and huffed at him.
 
"Now now, sweetheart. Don't be like that! Look! I've got you something." He reached into a worn back pocket in his work slacks and took out a small metal figure for her. It was a doll that was worked by possibly carefully carving into the metal, making everything from details of long flowing hair to a dress by cutting the sides into a desired shape.
 
Kana's squealed as she grasped the doll , while her brother removed his index fingers that he was using to shield his ear drums. She rose the doll into the air, smiling while watching the setting sun's light reflect from it. "Papa! It's great! I love it!"
 
Her father gave a nod towards his ecstatic daughter. Satisfied at her smile and bright expression, he moved onto her brother. "Boy. We've gotta' have a talk."
 
He raised an eyebrow towards his father. "A talk, father?"  
 
He nodded towards the monkey tailed young adult and gestured towards their small and sad excuse for a living room. It had a wooden couch that was crafted from the hands of the father and son, but it was aged by ten years and beginning to crack at it's foundations due to the son's shotty craft work when he was a child. He was instructed to use the saw to cut the wood and to use his father's plane to smooth the wood out.
 
At the time, he couldn't pay attention to detail very well. He used the plane to hammer away at the wood to make it into his desired yet crude shape and attempted to smooth the wood out using the saw. It was a scolding like no other on the son's end. For every uneven end or splinter, there was a new pitch and tone for his father to bring his voice to yell at him. It wasn't something he'd forget easily as every time he sat down, he could hear the wood creak slightly and his father giving him a look from the corner of his eye each time it was heard.
 
I have got to burn that said excuse for wood work, else I will have to deal with that look for the rest of my life. He shook his head and walked towards the couch and glanced at their table that was much better crafted, from experience of how to use tools correctly. He also caught eye back at the only piece of decoration in the house that could be seen as something not lifted from a blind man's woodshed.  
 
A small music box made by Kana when she was seven. It had always eluded him how a seven year old could possibly construct a music box but he chalked it up to Kana having a natural talent that not many her age could boast about. Her father had given her the wood, smoothed, cut and braced to Kana's linking. She nailed two silver colored door handles to the side of the box so that it can be carried with ease.
 
He was most impressed by how she constructed the inner works of the box, namely since he has no idea how  she managed it at all. When her brother opened it for inspection, he noticed that everything was set up perfectly. The bedpan was strong enough to give enough foundation to the rest of the parts, he hadn't the slightest idea of where she obtained three spring motors to extend the playing time of the box.
 
The metallic cylinder - which served as the punch card for the boxes - pins were placed in spots to create music in a tone that none of them had ever heard before. To think that a seven year old can create her own music box, as well for it to be able to bring some of the men in town to border line tears... She's a spectacle one all right. What did he call it...? 'Phoenix Requiem?'
 
He shook his head as he and his father sat at the couch. And surely enough, he caught his father's eye peak at him from the corner as they both sat and the creaks began. "Oh, father. Give it a rest, will you?!" His son shook his head, crossing his arms.
 
"I WILL when you settle with your own family, build your own family and furniture and see how important all of it is." His father crossed his arms as well. "So here we sit, two men, disgruntled over a ten year old couch."
 
"Yeah... not exactly how I'd like to spend my evening." His soon looked upward towards the ceiling and felt the awkward moment seep in.
 
"So...." His father cleared his throat, and looked down the hall to ensure that the ladies of the house were not listening in. He knew how his daughter and wife had an ear for hearing and a mouth for gossip. It made talking about masculine subjects in the home very complex.  
 
"If this is another one of your talks on what to do with a lady when we are alone, I'll inform you NOW that I am not interested in settling--" he was cut off by his father raising his hand towards the son.
 
"We have a special request from a client. The kind that warrants your attention and duties during a flight." His father looked towards his son and nodded.
 
"Huh. It is not as if we don't get enough of THOSE, father. It is always a noble or a relative of some 'born with a silver spoon in my mouth' kind. What difference does this make? Only one silver piece more than usual or do they want the 'royal discount'?" The son leaned back on the couch and exhaled, not particularly interested in where his father was going with his conversation. Every time there was a special request, it was from a noble family that treated everyone on board the airship like trash or junk beneath their toes; the kind that is best flicked to the side.
 
His mouth cocked the side of his lips upward on one end, giving a sly look towards his son. "It is in fact royal blood that asks---" before he could finish, he watched as his son groaned and slumped in the couch heavily. "Don't complain when you don't have all the facts, boy! Youth... Anyway, when I received the message, it was not from a carrier boy."
 
His son bobbed his head back and forth, completely uninterested. "Oh...? Is that right, father?"
 
"I received it from a black hawk." Just as his father finished his sentence, the son practically jumped out of his seat in surprise.
 
"A black hawk?!" His eyes went wide and brow raised.
 
"Yes. It came from the Ain continent. Not exactly the northern neighbors of our's who would invite you for a cut of meat and cool aile." He shrugged towards his son.
 
"Tsk... The LAST people I expected to hear from. So what do they want?" He sat back down, unfastening his sword from it's sheath, inspecting the edges while his expression turned sour. He never did liked the lands of Ain, and most would agree with his standing on them, outside of the right to torture and capturing foreign cargo on boats, killing all aboard and taking all food and funds.
 
And there was one report of a envoy of diplomacy being sent from Elis to Ain, only for him to return with his lips stitched together. A sick joke on their end.
 
"They want us to report if there is a...run away they're after, tries to board our airship in an attempt to escape, keep a close eye on 'her'. "  
 
His son tilted his head to the side. "I figure that whoever this person is, they're worth protecting rather than turning her over, simply to stick it to those sick ones. So who is 'runaway beauty' anyway?"  
 
His father ran his sweaty fingers across his own lips, tapping them against the lips for a moment before continuing, contemplating how to make sense of what he is about to tell his son. "I am not sure as to why they told us who she was. Something like this would be---SHOULD be kept from any public eye. But---"
 
"But?" his son interrupted, tiring of his father's dramatic moment.
 
"It's the Duke of Ain's daughter."  
 
His son gave his father a stern and highly irritated look as his sword slowly slipped from his grasp. "...What?"
 
His father watched as the sword's edge fell into the table and stuck into the side in a forty five degree angle. The sound of a washcloth smacking against a table was heard from the kitchen. "Oscar! That had BETTER not be the sound of that blade unsheathed under our roof, you fool-boy!" his mother shouted in a way that could not be described as anything short of 'pissed off'. It was obvious, this has happened before.
 
Oscar hopped from the couch with his tail trying to wedge itself between his legs. "No, mother! Of course not! That was just...father falling! Yes!" He sighed as he removed his sword from the table, placing it back in his sheath. I swear, that woman is the only one who can call me by that name without having a visit to the healing house.