Not much to talk about, I have my awesome adorable amazing girlfriend even though chang debates hur dur middle school relationship and let's just post these chapter collections so i can play radiant historia.
Chapter 3
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“Are you awake?” A voice trickled in Lloyd’s mind somewhere. But where? He reached out to the voice, half conscious, half unconscious. Abruptly, a rock hit him on the noggin, and he was burst into cataclysm once more.
Disoriented, he gathered his bearings, and to his surprise, his father was there.
“Thank goodness, I wouldn’t know what your mother would’ve done if you’d gone out on me like that.” Mr. Llewelyn dug out the breathing, livid Erik Belade. Erik coughed a pang of discomfort, but that was a sign he was okay.
“Are they okay?” A voice behind Lloyd emerged. Lloyd spun around, was met with pain, squinted, and saw the mysterious person for who he was.
“Are you…me?” Lloyd gasped.
The figure wore a crimson mantle, and was covered from head to toe with a mysterious veil. He grunted in disproval, and said nothing. But Lloyd had seen his face for a moment. It resembled him so much that it was crazy. He did not doubt that the resemblance was uncanny. Yet, he seemed to display an understanding to the recent events that have befallen Alcatran. Did this person know something more about them?
“Who are you?” Lloyd questioned.
“His name is Roy.” Mr. Llewelyn said.
“Just Roy. Nothing more, nothing less.” He said shortly after.
Roy’s appearance baffled Lloyd. As said before, he resembled Lloyd not just in face, but in voice and skin and build too. It was sort of like a doppelganger twin that came from another land. His clothes were very drab, almost as if he just picked up the first thing he saw in the men’s section. He displayed some sort of veneration to Lloyd’s father, but Lloyd decided not to pry.
Lloyd realized he had not known what had happened that caused such a terrifying explosion. He looked around him. What was now a building was now a collection of rocks. The city…was partly in ruin, and many citizens were knocked out, alive or dead, Lloyd could not tell. Lloyd did know one thing, though, and that was that seeing his city toppled like dominos gave him a sort of melancholy feeling of depression. The sky sported a blood red fiery aura, no longer full of the peaceful clouds he had seen minutes before. Lightning bolts shot forth, splitting the atmosphere in two with a crackling slash through the heavens.
“Dad, feel like telling me what in blazes just happened to Alcatran…no, all of Erath?” Lloyd suggested.
Mr. Llewelyn exhaled a great big sigh, and cleared his throat in response.
“It began when I was a foolish kid, seeking too much, and receiving things that would haunt me for life. I did something that is very taboo in this timeframe…I created a replica of myself using alchemy, a combination of magic and sciences.”
Mr. Llewelyn went on, “The first thing the clone did was turn on me…I should’ve foreseen the fact that it was defective. Using my copied knowledge of alchemy, he created a different branch of alchemy called necromancy, which I cannot fully explain to the best of my abilities.
“I digress. I know not where his power comes from, for he split the world into two, destroying countless civilizations and separating families from each other. To my dismay, the worst case scenario has occurred, and he has returned by crashing what was formerly Erath’s second half.”
“He must be stopped at all costs,” Roy added.
“I’m more interested in knowing who you are…” Erik chimed in out of nowhere.
“Roy…is a replica of you, Lloyd. I’m sure you’ve surmised that from mere looks.”
“What!? Why would you make a replica of me! Just make another replica of yourself, I don’t know…” Lloyd sputtered, at a loss for words.
Roy seemed to scoff silently at Lloyd’s phrase, possibly rejecting the idea that Lloyd was related in any way to him. He did not input his opinion in the conversation.
“This is risibly ridiculous,” Erik chuckled, not believing any of this.
“No, I cannot say for sure that my second replica would not result flawed in any way, so I decided to place my bets on a safer gamble…which I believed is you.”
Lloyd wiped the sweat off his forehead, materializing from stress. He refused to believe this unrealistic turn of events. He had never heard of alchemy before, much less seen his father tinkering with concoctions of magical potions and whatnot. He took a deep breath, and stared up the sky, ignoring everything he had heard, and just staring at the cloudy sky which told a thousand words all in his head. It looked overcast, but that was the least of his worries. A stray cloud meandered away from the group of clouds, outcast by nature’s ways. A raindrop fell on Lloyd’s face, and he wiped it away in annoyance.
Erik demonstrated just as much negativity towards Mr. Llewelyn’s clarifications. He had just been fortunate enough to dodge a concussion to the head, and now this supernatural rambling? Clearly, this was a dream, and he nonchalantly pinched himself on the triceps when no one was looking.
“Now that I’ve established my grounds…I would like to request something of you, my son, which I hope you do not decline.” Mr. Llewelyn smiled a worn grin.
Lloyd cringed after hearing that. He dreaded the worst that was in store for him and possibly Erik as well.
“Due to the ozone layer collapsing, I am forced to try to hold the world together, try as I might. If I didn’t, your lives and the rest of the world would cease to exist. I had an inkling of premonition that one day my replica would return, and that is why I created Roy. I request that you and Roy should go to the other side of the world, the world which has just crashed and fractured our own, to find my replica. I beg of you.” Mr. Llewelyn dropped to his knees, in hopes of Lloyd’s acceptance.
“This is ridiculous. I’m just a kid, compared to the infinite dangers that await me out there.” Lloyd pointed a random direction, knowing that wherever he pointed, life’s travesty of peacefulness would disintegrate into nothingness.
“Why should I, some random guy, just journey into an arduous plain of who knows what and walk to my death? That’s not courageous, that’s irrational at every level!” Lloyd argued.
Lloyd was abruptly thrown to the ground, interrupted in his speech. Roy had grabbed his throat and forced him down. His piercing eyes of blue showed little emotion, although Lloyd sensed a trickle of scorn towards him.
Roy scowled at his response, “We must go, for no one else will. I may have nothing to lose, and you may have everything to lose, but that is exactly why you should go. If you value your life, your friends, your future, you would go. If I, your supposed replica, hold more bravery than you, I suppose I have surpassed the original already. What a farce.” Roy spat on the ground.
Those words penetrated Lloyd’s feelings. It was true, Lloyd would rather do something than nothing at all if it meant saving the planet. Looking at the state of the community, no one would even hazard a thought to explore the unknown. It would take months to organize an expedition with the lucky politicians who dodged death today and even longer to round up people of such fearlessness of the mysterious other half that was apparently once our world. It was a daunting task no one would stand up to undertake.
Mr. Llewelyn commented in a sophisticated manner, “Roy cannot go without you. It may take some explaining, but it is imperative that you cooperate with him.”
“Fine then. I will take that challenge, and defeat my father’s replica, whoever and wherever he is. I’ll do it alone if I have to.” Lloyd didn’t think of Roy as a friend or an enemy, and he didn’t think Roy thought of him as anything more than an accomplice either.
“You’re not alone,” Erik croaked.
He stood up, patted his trousers clouded with dust, and smiled. Of course, he probably hadn’t come to the realization that he had lost a tooth, and now there was a gaping square hole in his jaw, making Lloyd snicker. Erik scrunched up his eyebrows in confusion, and ignored the rude laughter.
“I may not really be a part of this, but I sure can make myself a part of it. Given the circumstances, I don’t think my mom’ll mind if I take a vacation off somewhere. Well, she probably will. Ah well,” Erik shrugged.
“Hmph.” Roy grumbled, not expecting a change of heart from his original at all.
Mr. Llewelyn unexpectedly chuckled at everyone’s actions, as if he knew the outcome of his request before he had inquired.
“Then it’s decided. I have already prepared a ship for your travels. I trust that you will enjoy the crew I have assigned to the vessel called SS Volupture. It is located in Port Lysidia. Now, I must be off, I need ingredients to prepare the pseudo ozone layer…” Mr. Llewelyn trailed off and walked away with a briefcase in hand.
“Is it me or did he just assume you would say yes?” Erik whispered.
“Ignore him, scientists have thought processes that no one will ever know,” Roy replied.
Erik changed the topic, “Um, all right. So…if you’re a replica, how old are you?”
Roy scoffed, “Such information is insignificant. If you must know, my age is altered to the liking of Luke Llewelyn, so I assume I am the same age as his son.” Clearly, Roy wasn’t a man of conversation, and preferred not extorting the details of what little information he knew about himself.
Lloyd stayed silent. Roy’s age was none of his concern; he was more worried about the magnitude of his choices he had just made. After contemplating his decision for a second time, he decided that it was the best course of action in his eyes and did not dwell on it any longer. After all, it was for the good of Erath.
“No need to dilly-dally, let’s move on to Port Lysidia.” Roy did a one eighty, spinning his mantle along to the south.
Erik suddenly dragged Lloyd by the shoulder cuff, an action which Lloyd vehemently despised. He countered by vigorously shaking Erik off using his body. Erik laughed while tightening his grip; his strength was greater than Lloyd’s. As the day shifted into evening, a crescent moon illuminated the deathfire sky of nefarious proportions. A ray of light was cast forth on the city and the negativity and sadness was expunged from the stricken hearts of the citizens, himself included. All was not lost, not yet.
Chapter 4
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Striding forth impetuously, the three men reached Port Lysidia, a once brisk and crowded harbor. That is, under the best circumstances. Currently, it was an absolute ghost town, not a man, woman, or fish in sight. Abundant convenient stores had packed up and left, leaving no trace of any human contact. At each stall “CLOSED” was embedded below the canopy. If a skeleton mysteriously laid prone inside, the feature wouldn’t be all that shocking. It was quite a sad sight for the group, but they kept in silence throughout the experience. In the midst of all this emptiness lay a yacht near the pier, far out off the shore and into the wavy currents of the salty sea.
“That must be the SS Volupture,” Roy guessed.
Lloyd glanced and saw a galleon of rather small proportions, not on par with a cruiser but far more fearsome than a simple sailboat. The SS Volupture was a standard, brown vessel with wooden planks encompassing the outer portion. The auburn masts towered above the ship, two masts that held flickering sails. The sails flapped harmlessly to the whistling wind, like bees buzzing to the sound of their honey. Painted on the starboard side was a bright and crimson insignia in the form of a peregrine falcon. Some wooden planks creaked from afar, and they made a riveting sound that Lloyd could hear every time the ship bobbed up and down. There wasn’t a single person at the crow’s nest, the highest point of any and all boats. Guessing from how silent and dull it was, there weren’t many crewmates maintaining the SS Volupture. Peering at the deck, the cabin in the center which housed the hull had a broken window that certainly needed to be replaced. He could plainly tell that the ship was in much need of repair. The SS Volupture definitely needed more than a few nuts and bolts to repair.
“We’re sailing the boundless blue on that…thing?” Erik said, aghast.
“You’re welcome to swim if you’d like,” Roy suggested.
“Er…I’ll pass on that proposal, thank you very much.”
As they neared the pier, Lloyd noticed many fishing rods stacked up against the wooden poles that served as a barricade. From plain to vivid in design, there were some that had been recently been cast and used, others just ignored and dusty. There were buckets full of fish, some lucky catches, and some not even fish. Lloyd wondered very inquisitively why seaweed had been dropped into it without any explainable reason. He was about to pick it up and examine it when a megaphone without warning.
“HEY! YOU THREE! I’VE BEEN WAITING DECADES FOR YOU BUFFOONS!” a girl shrieked out with wrath.
Lloyd, Roy and Erik shot each other questioning looks, and then realized that not a living soul was in the vicinity sans them.
The lady jumped down from the SS Volupture, without a care of the dangers if she chanced to fall. Lloyd could already tell that she had a bold aura signifying long years at sea, a worthy shipwright, in other words. She landed as elegantly as a ballerina, the stale bark of the pier whispering in pain, but not fully giving way to her weight. She adorned a standard sailor’s outfit, very much white, without a stain on it. The texture, Lloyd guessed, was very soft, a necessity for comfortable voyage. Her hat was similar to the paper hats you crafted as a kid, but more bowl shaped and refined. There was a periwinkle ribbon at the rim of the hat, and it fell behind her head. Big black boots covered her otherwise petite feet, because high heels were definitely not a fashion trend at sail. As for her face, she held a sturdy expression that showed total confidence, and black eyes that never missed a beat in blinking. Lengthy, silky brown hair streamed down to the tips of her shoulders. It was smooth and straightened, and looked strangely like the Niagara Falls. Lloyd could tell that this gal sure knew how to make a first impression.
“Mr. Luke told me that you guys would arrive at precisely 7 pm, and I’ll have you know I’ve been sitting here without a clue as to your whereabouts!” She pointed with an accusing finger.
Erik held up his hands vertically, aghast. “Slow down, sister! We’ve only had the world knocked around us not too long ago, if you hadn’t realized.”
“The name’s Anna to you! Anna Firo,” She replied crossly.
The two scowled at each other, and it seemed like a wall of disagreement stood between them. They glared at each other, sending electrifying sparks down the other’s spine.
Roy got straight to the point, “Who are you and what are you doing on the SS Volupture?”
“Hmph! I’ll have you know I was just recently promoted captain of this ship after my father retired. Whether you like it or not, whatever I say, goes.” Anna explained, seething.
Erik brought his hands to his face, “Oh, first the world crashes into another on me, now this pint-sized girl is ordering me around. What has the world come to?”
“It’s become a conglomerated mess of land with an evil necromancer lurking about,” Lloyd answered curtly.
Anna twirled the mini-megaphone in her hands and strapped it on to her waist expertly. She walked up the ramp connecting the pier and the yacht, motioning for us to follow.
“Come on, I promised Mr. Luke that I’d escort you to above and beyond, because my father is indebted to him for some reason or other. I’m not staying in this dump any longer.”
Lloyd perked up at that tidbit of information. He thought he knew his dad as a crazy man with a passion for science, but was this really the case? Funny, how little he knew.
They trudged up the ramp unwillingly, but interested in the inner hull of the SS Volupture. Yachts were known as a casual ship, piquing Erik’s curiosity regarding how stable it was. After all, what was stopping a tsunami from wrecking their voyage prematurely?
“Make yourselves at home. My crew’s a little...lacking, but I’m sure you’ll get accustomed to them. You can explore the ship if you like; we’re sailing off at 8 pm sharp.” Anna left for other affairs, most likely more essential than accompanying three random kids. Although, who’s to say she wasn’t younger than us in the first place?
Up close, the SS Volupture was nothing to laugh at. Lloyd and Erik had never been on a ship before, and were mystified and intrigued by the tall and majestic galleon that stood forth before them. Roy, having no real knowledge of the outside world, didn’t even know what this enthralling mass of lumber was. It was like a caveman discovering the phenomenon called fire. While the three gentlemen marveled at the spectacle, a black mess of hair from someone’s head popped out from below the deck.
“Welcome to the SS Volupture! What brings you here to this wonderful ship?” a man questioned.
We nodded to him in response. Shortly after that, another blonde head popped up, extremely similar to the previous one.
“Howdy, there! Might you be those three fellows Annie was looking for?” the new face said with a gleaming grin.
“Daniel, stop ruining the welcome!” the first one scolded.
“Whaddya mean ruin the welcome, I am welcoming them!” the other countered.
“You have to be courteous and respectful; otherwise they’ll just walk off without a second thought!”
Roy cleared his throat, “Ahem.”
One of them perked up to that icebreaker, “Oh. Sorry about this, my brother’s a little too proper, just like Annie. We’re Annie’s little brothers, David and Daniel. We’re mainly responsible for all the monotonous cleaning, swabbing the poop deck, if you will. Annie has us do all the boring odd jobs, and it really gets on my nerves!”
David and Daniel seemed the spitting images of each other, but David was a mite taller than Daniel. David and Daniel’s hair were, shockingly enough, pristine silver. It was long enough to lean on their necks, but not long enough to look effeminate. The silvery hair just fell downwards, no curls, spikes, or highlights. David’s hair was messier than Daniel’s, as if he had just woken up from slumber. Daniel had smooth, flowing hair as opposed to Daniel’s lazy uncombed hairstyle. They wore the same outfit as Anna, buttons and collar alike in fashion. Lloyd noticed that pendants draped on both of their necks. David’s was a chrysanthemum violet, in the shape of an elegant and entrancing diamond. Daniel’s, in contrast, shined an iridescent jade. Sterling silver encompassed the outer shell and left a lasting impression of awe. Doubtless, these weren’t any cheap, ordinary jewelry.
“If only we were older, then one of us would be the captain, and then she’d know how much work we endeavor just to stay alive,” David concurred grimly.
“What was that?” Anna trotted over from the stern and glared at her little brother. The two brothers hadn’t noticed that she was right under their nose this entire time.
“Uh, hello Annie. How’s the weather?” Daniel nervously inched away from her in fright.
“Just peachy, thank you. Now, I’ll have you know that being on this ship is an honor to father. If both of you are going to incessantly complain, be my guest. I have ways of making people repent their words.” She said coldly.
Both siblings’ heads drooped to the ground, silently nodding in response.
“This chick’s a little on the sassy side,” Erik whispered.
The wind slashed ferociously, its current facing the north. It was like a gale storm reminiscent of a tornado, as terrifying as a hurricane.
“Hm, the wind is much obliged to us. What better time to set sail than now? Man your positions, men! As for you three amateurs, just sit back and watch,” Anna marched over to the helm of the SS Volupture.
Within an instant, the sails of the SS Volupture gave way and fell downwards. A waft caught between the canvas, causing it to flitter and shuffle to and fro. The galleon let out a stir of relief, finally released from the chains of land. Creaking like a human being stretching, a gust of wind ejected it out of the pier. The voyage was officially underway.
Roy’s curiosity was piqued, and he strolled away from Lloyd and Erik to investigate the inner hull of the interior.
Before Lloyd could say anything, “Hey, hey! You two want to go for a special tour, courtesy of yours truly?” David suggested.
Erik thought about it, “Sure, why not?”
David pumped his fist up in the air, “Whoo! Wait ‘til you see the crow’s nest!”
Erik wondered why he was so excited over a plain old ship. It’s not like it was going to sprout wings and fly into the sky, right? But it was better to know the ship inside out than to be a lost sheep out of its herd. David led the two to a long, wooden pole with a ladder jutting out of it vertically leading to the crow nest atop. They took turns climbing it, slowly and carefully. At the peak, the crow nest was rather small and ordinary, barely fitting the three men.
“I’d love a little more room,” Lloyd grumbled, without any personal space. They were clumped together like a glob of jelly. Granted, they had a very nice view of the world. The sea swished and sloshed and created a calming whistle. With the water swallowing up anything in distance, there was nothing but the sea and the sky on top of each other. It was dark, so there wasn’t much to take in. Extremely high in the air, Erik spotted seagulls travelling in a V-formation to the northwest. They soared high in the air to avoid the sea breeze that would overtake them at ground level. Erik envied their freedom, and how they were at liberty to travel through the ethereal plains of the sky ‘till the end of time.
“Pretty nifty, I’d say.” David said in a complimentary mood.
“Sure, I guess. Mind if we go down now?” Lloyd asked.
Erik stepped down on the foothold that
Erik thought of the extreme heights he was standing on, “Uh, these things don’t fall and crash, correct? Or creak or shake?”
Lloyd chuckled, “Just don’t look down and you’ll be fine.”
Despite Erik’s pitiful whimpering, there wasn’t a hitch in climbing down. Lloyd was first, then David, then Erik. As soon as David got down, a flickering, agile shadow dashed out of the blue, brushing past Lloyd’s ankle and tackling David in the chest. David was given a wide, slobbery lick and he laughed with a loving compassion. A shaggy, small and white dog had appeared literally out of nowhere. David played and scratched the dog’s ears and the dog replied with more licking and good-natured panting. Lloyd and Erik were at a loss, bamboozled at this unexpected quandary.
“Ahaha, sorry guys, this is my good ol’ dog, Archy. He’s a bit of a pain sometimes, but he means well,” David said with a pat on the dog’s head.
Lloyd opened his mouth to talk, but instead a giant grumble erupted from his stomach, as well as embarrassment flushing to his cheeks.
“Um, got any food around here, David? I’m famished.”
David’s smile widened as soon as Lloyd finished that sentence, “Sure, we’ve got plenty! Wait ‘till you see our first class chef, Mr. Troy at work!”
David promptly sprinted off racing with Archy, wrenching the cabin door open and leaving it ajar for Erik and Lloyd. Lloyd glanced peculiarly at Erik, and Erik merely shrugged in response. Hopefully, they’d find Roy not making trouble at their expense. After all, curiosity killed the cat, and Erik was certainly a believer of that. As a kid, he’d burnt himself with an incense burner, bitten by a rabid cat, and other nonsensical stories he preferred not to share with Lloyd, considering his pride was at stake here.
“Are we going or not?” Lloyd said, already at the door. Erik motioned a thumbs-up and hastened his stride to quickly close distance. Before he reached the door, a lightning strike rapidly lit up the sky with a crackling bolt, not exactly a good omen. Erik was startled, and hurried inside, bolting the door closed.
“You know, in reality, the chances of a lightning bolt striking you are nil,” Lloyd said in a matter-of-fact tone.
Erik scowled at him, and mumbled inaudibly while walking ahead of Lloyd. In a few minutes, they had caught up to David, who was cradling Archy like a newborn puppy. To be honest, it was rather cute to Lloyd, and he suppressed a smile inching out of his mouth. David wordlessly escorted the two to the kitchen, through a maze of hallways forking into numerous intersections. The corridors reminded Lloyd of a slithering snake on the prowl, or a convoluted pipeline system. At the final twist and turn, they came across a door that seeped smoke out its small crevice.
“Hello, my young guests!” a stout, portly but statured man yelled with amiable splendor, cooking what smelled to be beef stew. His back was turned, but he could keenly hear our footsteps, in spite of the racket in the kitchen.
“I am Troy, master of cooking and women! Although there is a clear drought of women within this Volupture, I have braved through many hardships to ask for merely one kiss from Miss Anna Firo! Alas, it cannot be. For the only thing she desires, is not my heart, but my cooking! So I shall cook, cook until she desires more than my cooking, cook until she desires my wonderful self!” Troy stirred the stew in a counter-clockwise motion, while placing overemphasis on his speech.
Troy turned around and his stringy, Italian moustache definitely stood out more than necessary. It curved downwards, to his chin on both sides, and was in Erik’s opinion the most exaggerated moustache he’d ever seen or will see in his life.
“What took you two so long? This entrée is delectable, I’ve been eating it ever since I got here,” Roy said between mouthfuls of bites with his fettuccine alfredo. Its alluring smell had probably attracted Roy’s ignorantly blissful persona. He sat alone, at a wooden table distanced away from the stove.
“Would you two sirs care for a taste of my luxurious beef stew? I trust it will not disappoint.”
“Well, that is what we came here for,” David stated.
The three men took the remaining seats at the table, and soon enough, were each bestowed with a portion of steamy, beef stew. Merely a bite sent electrifying goodness down into the depths of their gluttonous stomachs, and David moaned an admiring “Mmmm”. There was a period of silence, with some small talk in between as they enjoyed their pleasurable meal.
“David, where are we going? You have not shared the knowledge of the world beyond the waters.” Roy queried.
David sipped another spoonful, “Anna’s probably thinking of going to Rukefellth, which is a volcanic island to the north. Don’t worry, Mount Reeve is extinct over there. Also, there’s not that much land on Erath, we don’t know the unidentified lands that crashed into us. Who knows, we might sail forever and not find a single speck of green!”
Roy wanted more information, “Do you know how long it will take us to get to this…Rukefellth?”
Suddenly, as if on cue, a giant quake shook the wooden ship, causing everyone to lose balance and fall to the ground. Dishes fell to the ground, shattering into tiny bits of porcelain, and Troy accidentally spilled the remainder of his stew onto the ground, mortifying him. The galleon continued to rumble helplessly, and then a thunderous, bone-chilling shriek roared from the outside, shuddering everyone’s spine.
“My wonderful stew!” Troy yelled, horrified.
“You wouldn’t perchance have a bomb in your ship, would you, David?” Lloyd asked.
“No way! We have to see if Daniel and Annie are okay, though!” David said, through chattering teeth.
“I think it’s more important to know who or what rammed us, or what blew. There are a lot of factors, really.” Roy admonished.
Everyone, excluding Troy, bounded upstairs, through the chain of hallways previously stepped through before. It went a lot faster under an alarming atmosphere. The lure of curiosity merely rushed everybody’s adrenaline to their maximum. But when Lloyd opened the door, his mouth dropped straight down to the ground. This was no ordinary phenomenon. Standing right in front of the ship, towered a ferocious, man-eating sea serpent.
Chapter 5
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“ROARRRRRRR!” the serpent screeched, its call reverberating throughout the sky with drilling, ear-piercing dissonance.
The serpent had green scales crisscrossing out of every corner, shining brighter than the murky green seaweed that rose with it. There was a hunch on its back, and its long, vivid neck curved in a reverse S mirroring the legendary creature. Its scream was petrifying and horrid, and it actually reminded Lloyd more of a sea worm than a serpent. The galleon was truthfully miniature compared to the towering terror, the crow’s nest just barely reaching level with the tip of its stubby whiskers. The worm’s teeth were ravenous, blood-smeared and as sharp as a great white shark. But most frightening of all was its eyes. They weren’t of this world, in fact, were they even eyes at all? There weren’t any pupils, so the only thing you saw was a hollow, lifeless pair of gaping black eyelids, gazing apathetically. What had occurred to it that made it look so malevolent? Lloyd would rather have preferred to hightail it out of this place if not for being stranded at sea without a soul to see. Meanwhile, thunder crackled nearby, consecutively without pause.
David, trying hard not to cower, focused himself, and bellowed, “Annie! Daniel! Where are you!?”
Anna came out of her captain’s cabin nonplussed, “What is it? Is there something wrong with the ship? I heard a rumble, but I’ve been too busy.”
She shifted her gaze, and that’s when she saw it. She yelped helplessly, and ran back into her room, with a string of hope it would provide protection. Looks like the coldhearted beauty caved under pressure against a sea monster, thought Erik. He didn’t blame her, though. In the midst of an indomitable sea monstrosity, anyone would crack.
“Guys, there’s Daniel! We have to save him!” David said, breaking the pressure. Indeed, Daniel was all the way at the top of the crow’s nest. Needless to say, there was no way he didn’t see the monster, and he tried to hide to the best of his ability, crouched in a corner. If the nest fell, Daniel definitely wouldn’t live to tell the tale. He was in the most dangerous position, helpless as a bird without its wings.
“I think we should worry more about ourselves,” Roy motioned over. The serpent had turned its attention to us, cold in expression and entailing misfortune. Roy blinked. He swore it just smiled at him, and he shivered with goosebumps.
“Help me!” Daniel uttered.
It was the wrong thing to do. The serpent reared its head toward Daniel, gleeful of its newfound prey. Agile as a liger, it slashed its head horizontally toward the crow’s nest, trying to knock it down. With one crushing head butt, the wooden support cracked into a myriad of splinters. Yet, the pole held adamantly, unyielding in its desire to stay uprooted. It would not hold much longer, however. The sea snake grimaced with keen craving for fresh food.
Lloyd looked around, at a loss as to what to do, and how. There was no point to running. Daniel could not be saved. Their journey would end here, short-lived and ephemeral. Nevertheless, in a flicker of hope, Roy stood straight and stared directly at his forlorn pupils.
“Lloyd. I can tell that your eyes show weakness. But, please, do exactly as I say. I want you to hold the wooden pole, and keep it as stable as possible. That creature will certainly attack again, and this time, there will be casualties.”
Lloyd felt rejuvenated with energy at those words, and quickly sprinted over to bind the pole that howled in aching agony. The pole was much larger than him, but he could still clasp his two arms around it as some form of fortification. He was about to motion for a thumbs-up to Roy when he noticed a colossal shadow lurking underneath him, effectively scaring the daylights out of Lloyd. He raised his hands in fear, but in reality, there was no way those pint-sized arms could protect him from the vast force of a behemoth’s head, much less body. Momentarily saying his prayers, Lloyd closed his eyes and hoped for the best, or the worst, in this scenario.
“Tuitionem nostri vincula, sim defensus ab iniuria.”
A bright ray of light burst from Roy’s palms, hitting Lloyd body and brightening it with a red radiance. Somehow, some way, the impossible happened. The beast’s head was stopped in its track prematurely. Lloyd looked up in wonder to see his amazing feat. The serpent had been stopped by a barrier erected around him.
The serpent roared terrifyingly, enraged. It had never been stopped by such an immovable force. It arduously tried to tackle Lloyd again, in immeasurable disbelief. But Lloyd did not give an inch of ground. Everyone at that moment was enthralled into shocked silence. Then, the unthinkable happened. A fork of golden split the sky, just as it had been doing day after day. The flash of electrical discharge struck the tallest object in the vicinity mercilessly. It was unquestionably the emerald serpentine. The lightning bolt surged through its body, charring it in a deadly ember of ten thousand volts. The serpent howled with deafening displeasure, forcing everyone on the deck to cover their ears with their hands.
“GRAHHHH!”
Powerlessly, the serpent thrashed about in anguish, accidentally hitting the crow’s nest. To everyone’s dismay, the nest could not be supported any longer, and fell diagonally into the raging waters. With a final, malicious howl, the creature retreated into the sea, in a burnt and pitiful state.
“DAVID!” Daniel screamed as he drifted off wherever the current pleased.
“Daniel! No!”
In a matter of minutes, Daniel was no more than a speck in the miles of the ocean. There was nothing that could be done, for the SS Volupture was not equipped with lifeboats that could have prevented the loss of a passenger. David had promptly thought to dive after Daniel, but he could plainly see that the waters were not calm; they would sweep him away to no man’s land if he dared. David sighed in discomfort, in disbelief of himself and his inability to save his little brother.
In the meantime, Lloyd looked with overwhelming awe at a golden shield wrapped around him. The glow promptly vanished, without a trace of it ever being there in the first place. He stared at Roy, the cause of this.
“What…How did you do…?”
Roy held up his hand, “Say no more. Just know that this is my power. I am not any ordinary human, but one of skilled proportions. You could call me a white knight, I suppose, but I cannot say I have ample strength, only in magic.”
Erik walked over to David, and put his hand on David’s shoulder. It was the only comfort that could be provided as tears welled up and dripped down his face.
Roy looked to the north, where a volcano rose up to monumental heights. Rukefellth could be seen not too far. Somehow, they had finished the voyage unscathed. However, no one could truly console David, who had been injured more deeply than ever on the inside.
Anna nudged the door open a tad, hesitant at first. But as her gaze shifted to David, she cast away any fear she may have had previously and rushed to his aid. The situation was quickly explained to her, and her expression soon turned downcast and sour.
“I…I’m sorry David. You may feel depressed, but as your older sister, I feel like I’ve failed you,” Anna said, hugging her little brother.
“Ms. Firo! I’ve come to tell you that we are within ten kilometers of Rukefellth. We will be docking periodically…Is something wrong, ma’am?” the helmsman informed.
Anna stood up, with newly lit fire in her eyes, “Good job. Now, as soon as we reach Rukefellth, I hereby order a full search for Daniel Firo.”
“I don’t think you need to do that. I mean, us three were about to go anyway, right? We could just explore every inch and corner of the island,” Lloyd suggested.
Anna nodded thoughtfully, “All right then. Maybe you three imbeciles can prove your worth, besides being unable to keep track of time. I don’t know what the heck you guys did to stop that beast, but I sure ain’t questioning it.”
Lloyd, Erik, and Roy bided their time patiently in the few hours before arrival. There was nothing to be said, and nothing to be done. David went to his own room, and locked himself in solitude. Anna was commanding the helmsman like her puppet. Troy was experimenting with a plethora of recipes made especially to serve the spicy taste buds. Sooner or later, they reached Rukefellth. They walked off the SS Volupture, onto the cold and shapeless shore of sand. Anna and the crew stayed behind, working on repairs due to the unbelievable serpent run-in.
“I wonder what this place is like. It’s not every day I get to take a vacation,” Erik said jokingly.
Before the passengers could disembark, a dazed David sprinted down to them, gasping in puffs of air.
“Wait,” he panted.
“Take me with you! I want, no, I have to find Daniel. If I lost my brother, I don’t know what I would do. Anna may be my sister, but she was never as close as Daniel was to me. We’re two peas in a pod, y’know what I mean?” David pleaded.
“I don’t see why not. What do you guys think?” Erik cheerfully responded.
“We’re just going to Rukefellth, no?” Lloyd confirmed.
Roy walked on ahead, “Do what you will. Your problem does not pertain to ours.”
Erik grinned, “Well, that’s that. The more the merrier! Wait up, Roy!”
The now larger group skipped through the sand which made their feet dip under the grain. A forest of entangled green was in front of them, and from the looks of it, stretched across half the island. There was a clearing amidst the greenery, with only a small thicket in the way. They truged through, shrubs and weeds brushing against their knees and giving an irritating itch.
“Does anyone know where they’re going?” Erik whined after being led astray for the third time. There wasn’t a trail in sight, and Erik could very well have been walking in circles.
“Sorry, I’ve only seen maps of Rukefellth. I never thought it would be this maze-like…” David replied, crestfallen.
Luckily, after walking for what seemed like hours, they saw a small adobe hut. They all raced over in anticipation, except for Roy, who reserved his own energy.
The door was open just a smidgen, so David cautiously creaked it open.
“Hello? Is anyone home?”
A skinny, short boy popped his head out of a room in the back. He looked to be about thirteen years old, give or take, and had a shade of light brown tan on his skin. At first, he smiled with half-curiosity and half-excitement, but at the sight of David, his eyebrows quickly scrunched up into a scowl. He itched his prickly buzz cut black hair in bemusement, and opened his mouth to speak.
“Are you looking for my father? He went to Rukefellth. Said it was time to purge them. I wonder what that means.” The boy spoke.
“I think I’ll go ask him, in fact,” he raced out the door, leaving just as fast as they’d arrived. He brushed past Erik and caught him completely off-guard.
“Whoa, what the! Slow down a little, will ya? “
Erik had noticed, in that one instant, that that child had pure ruby eyes. He’d never seen anything like them, except maybe Roy’s dazzling pupils. But Roy was a clone, so artificial eyes weren’t entirely unfeasible. That raised a question: Who in blazes was that guy?
“We should follow him. He’ll make a beeline to where we need to go,” Roy eavesdropped as he popped in.
Lloyd nodded, picking up speed to catch up to the peculiar boy. The others curtly followed in silence. It was extremely difficult to keep up with this speedy shrimp, who kept making instantaneous curves in every direction. Moreover, the forest grew thick with tall grass, reaching up to their stomach. Each blade lashed at the adventurers, like a vine whipping their bodies. Miraculously, no one tripped and fell, which would have been detrimental to this wild goose chase. In about fifteen minutes, the boy had disappeared from their sights without a trace to be found.
“Where’d he go!?” Lloyd cried.
At the same time, he stepped on a concrete pavement, shifting his balance more than needed as he stumbled clumsily. Lloyd gradually looked up, taking in his surroundings.
The first thing he saw appeared to be a shrine embellished with golden bells hanging at the lowest roof. There were levels of cobalt roofs, going downwards and becoming greater in area with each decline. Each roof curved upwards, similar to Chinese architecture. Apparently, this served as a countermeasure to ward off evil specters and demons, some kind of bizarre feng shui. Likewise, the rest of the buildings were similarly built, complementing the giant building. He made a note in his mind to check it out first.
The remote village of Rukefellth had an ovular courtyard with pavement circling in the outer portion. Overall, it looked quite drab and colorless, with the exception of a flag hoisted about eight feet off the ground. It was embroidered in gold ribbon at the borders, and had illiterate characters Lloyd could not translate on the top right. The flag itself was striped in blue and green, but dots of dark red were splattered on the flag, ruining it. Upon closer inspection, Lloyd saw that that wasn’t just for decoration. Dotted all over the flag were the remains of blood, freshly drawn from a corpse. Below it was a skeleton, seemingly to be all that was left.
“This is…messed up,” Erik struggled to put into words, horrified.
“Looks like our little trip has turned into a full-fledged horror show,” David said meekly, wondering if his brother had met the same fate.
“Hm. How utterly revolting,” Roy examined the skeleton with a mixture of interest and reluctance.
“Hey…how come there hasn’t been a single villager around?” Lloyd was afraid to ask.
Lloyd had been right. Not a soul had crossed the premises. They explored each house thoroughly, one by one, but no dice.
“Do you think they’re…dead?’ Daniel gasped.
“Nah, couldn’t be,” Erik assured.
Lloyd stayed silent, almost mesmerized by the three-floored building that stood taller than any other. He subconsciously felt that it would provide all the answers, good or bad. Lloyd strode forth, surging with curiosity and ensnared by its prominent stature.
“Hey, where are you going?” Erik stayed put where he was, and instead looked at the fallen human under the striped flag once again.
Lloyd went on ahead; company was not a necessity, after all. He was mere inches from the doorstep when a green glimmer caught his eye, emitting brightness from the ground. A necklace, with an olive pendant was strewn about lazily. Lloyd couldn’t put his finger on it, but it seemed strikingly familiar…
“David…could you come over here?” Lloyd motioned him over with a gut feeling.
Daniel nodded, and was more than content to comply. When he saw the pendant, his breath stopped short. He clutched the pendant and then burst out with hope.
“That’s my brother’s! No doubt about it! He’s alive after all!”
Roy’s expression remained the same, “What makes you think that? He very well could be dead, for all you know. There is no solid evidence that proves otherwise.”
Erik grabbed Roy’s collar in a flash, “Would you stop being a smart aleck? It’s getting on our nerves; you need to learn to mind your own business, dude.”
Roy simply looked at him with cold, stoic eyes. He said nothing and walked past him, into the unforeseen depths of the red-lined double door. It eerily closed behind him without a sound. Lloyd started for it as well while Erik tried to reconcile David.
“Man, that guy...Sorry David, he’s got some loose nuts not screwed on his head. But don’t worry, your brother must be somewhere in this shrine or whatever,” Erik gave him a pat on the back, but David merely stared off into space, trying to make sense of his predicament.
Lloyd swung the door open forcefully. There stood Roy and another well-known figure he recognized. It was none other than the boy they had been previously trailing in order to find their way. Roy spoke to the little boy.
“I knew you weren’t any ordinary kid from the second I saw you. Where did all the villagers go?”
“Father said they needed to disappear. He must have done a magic trick. Maybe he’ll teach Arthur, too,” the boy Lloyd presumed to be Arthur curled his teeth into a gruesome smile. Fangs appeared in place of canine teeth, and they looked sharper than the pointy tip of a spear. His bright red eyes glowed more than ever before. Roy was right, this kid was out of this world, thought Lloyd.
“Tell us where your father is.” Lloyd demanded.
But as Lloyd’s words left his mouth, Arthur had disappeared into thin air, with only an afterimage left in his place. Then Roy was tackled to the ground with his guard down, Arthur on top of him. Roy was momentarily frozen into a daze, but then furiously struggled against this annoying action. But Arthur was much stronger than Roy anticipated, and he didn’t budge.
“Tuitionem nostri vincula, sim defensus ab iniuria!” Roy prepared himself for the worst, casting a complex spell on himself.
Arthur laughed eerily, opened his mouth wide, and bit down, hard.
“AHHH! What…the…”
Roy collapsed to the ground, hand on his numb shoulder.
“Roy!” Lloyd yelled out, worried.
Roy slowly stood up, “I’m fine…”
“Sana vunera, et vivificet viva…”
Nothing happened. No shining ray of light in the past. Just…nothing.
“I see…I guess my own spells don’t work on me. How weird, Llewelyn never told me…” Roy chuckled lightly.
“Ha...ha…hahahehe,” Arthur giggled intensely with energy and licking the blood off his lips. He kept shaking vigorously, looking hyper and giddy. Lloyd now understood what Arthur exactly was. A young but menacing vampire stood face to face with them, and the only one who had a clue on how to fight was out of commission. Not exactly a situation in their favor.
“Dimitte catenis augmentum celeritate…” Roy whispered, and slowly closed his tiring eyes.
Once again, that strange feeling of power rushed into Lloyd. However, there was something different from before. He felt inexplicably light as a feather. Roy must have chanted a different incantation in his arsenal. Before Lloyd could think about his next movement, though, Arthur dived for him, even faster than before with fresh blood in his systems. Lloyd instinctively dodged it, ducking to the side before Arthur got in arm’s reach. Arthur was surprised, lashed out again, and then began striking more out of brutish rage than genuine intent. Lloyd easily and effortlessly evaded any punches that flew his way. What were once fast movements to him now seemed as slow as a sloth. Perhaps Roy’s spell made timer slower, he thought. Or maybe it sped him up. Roy had passed out cold, so there was no point in asking him right now.
“Why…can’t…I…hit…you!?” Arthur shouted.
Lloyd melded his hand into a strengthened fist, and jabbed it straight in front of him. Somehow, his punch flew like it was faster than the speed of sound, no, faster than light itself. It may not have packed a giant punch behind it like that time with the serpent, but it was surely nothing to scoff at. It hit Arthur square in the nose, as quick and penetrating as a bullet embedding itself into a wall.
“Argh!” But Arthur didn’t flinch, and grabbed Lloyd’s arm in retaliation. Without wasting a second, he impulsively bit straight into Lloyd’s forearm.
Lloyd wrenched his arm out of Arthur’s grasp, but the damage had been done. Blood oozed from two tiny bite marks. He grimaced at the sight of it, and was about to resume his skirmish when his sight suddenly turned very blurry on him. Lloyd couldn’t withstand his weight and dipped up and down, left and right. Arthur’s bite mark had somehow transferred a small sedative into his bloodstream, and he slowly felt the steady effects of tranquilization.
“Ugh…” Lloyd put his hand on his forehead.
Arthur took advantage of his wooziness and attacked without warning. The spell Roy casted was practically nullified due to the intoxication, but Lloyd wasn’t that helpless in a fight. He had regret not taking a full course on martial arts, but he was certainly not a newbie. He still held his own, even against a blood-sucking vampire. They exchanged blows once, twice, thrice. But each second Lloyd panted more and more and struggled to hold his ground, while Arthur looked better than ever. Arthur did a low sleep at Lloyd’s shaky legs and sent him spiraling to the floor.
“Your punches don’t have any weight now,” Arthur taunted.
“You bore me now. Bye-bye!” Arthur sprinted up a flight of stairs.
“Wait…” Lloyd murmured before someone put a hand on his shoulder.
“Just rest here; we’ll go on ahead,” Roy ensured back in action.
Lloyd nodded, then immediately dozed off.
“What now?” Daniel inquired.
“What else?” Erik pointed at the staircase.
The staircase was a lengthy tornado, spiraling up and up. The building they were in was huge, so it took them a few minutes to scale. At the pinnacle was an old wooden door, scratched and aged. Daniel took hold of the knob, and pulled. He poked his head out when a silver sword went whizzing by.
Erik tackled him out of the way, “WATCH OUT!”
*CLINK*
Chapter 6
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The sword pierced straight through the wall, sending splinters all over on the floor and littering it over Daniel’s clothes. Erik had pushed him down just in time, because he lay right under the metallic blade’s gleam.
“H-holy smokes…” Daniel stuttered after narrowly avoiding death.
“Daniel, who the heck threw that sword-oh,” Erik stopped short.
A middle-aged man in a white gi stood patiently in the center of the room with his hands cupped. He had a full beard and bald head, with a sword sheathed at his side. For some reason, he wore sandals indoors, in spite of how uncomfortable that sounded to Erik. Then Erik’s eyes met his. But there weren’t any. They were the same, lifeless pair of black eyelids Erik had known all too well, just like the serpent. Shivers went down Erik’s spine, vibrations being travelled every direction. There wasn’t anyone else in the room, so Erik could infer that he was acquainted with Arthur in some shape or form to have let him pass unbarred.
The man paid no heed to Erik’s outburst, “I am Dias, vessel to Reeve. You shan’t pass, only if thou challenge thee to a duel.”
“Oh, mind if I take you on?” Erik stretched his arms, winding them in circles.
“As you wish,” Dias unsheathed his sword, revealing a crescent-shaped katana.
He forcefully pulled out the sword Dias had thrown, and studied it closely. Hmm, tempered steel, sharp tip, not bad, he thought, swinging it around twice. It was a regular, one-handed sword, not too shabby, but not decorated with jewels like a king’s sword. It was rather skinny, only as wide and long as an arm’s length. At the tip, the end curved diagonally once, and wasn’t really a triangular point, but more of a pointed end. In terms of practicality, it was perfect, as decorations clog a sword and make it unnecessarily heavier for a trained swordsman. Erik had taken fencing not too long ago, being skilled primarily with the epee. Thus, handling a one-handed sword was a piece of cake. The problem was that in fencing, you thrust to defeat your opponent. Only the sabre is used for slashing. Truth be told, he had no idea what to do against a katana. Erik didn’t let it demoralize him, though, and stepped in front of Dias and looked at him straight in the eye.
“Who’s Reeve?” Erik asked Dias.
“He is my master, and rightfully so, for he is the ruler of these treacherous lands. This is the fourth land he has conquered with his endless knowledge and power. I am indebted and obliged to help him in his conquest for the world, and to crush all the flies that impede his path,” Dias pointed his sword accusingly at Erik.
“Ah, I see. Sounds like a pretty ambitious guy, if you ask me. But I suppose that’s enough talk. En garde!” Erik gauged his opponent’s strength by thrusting a preemptive strike against Dias. Dias swung it away without even trying. Erik staggered back, not expecting such great strength and dexterity. In one swift movement Dias stepped forward and slashed vertically in one fluid motion. Erik parried, but didn’t predict a following horizontal slice, and was literally sent flying backwards, if that were humanly possible. Dias didn’t falter, and then dashed into a thrust while Erik was unprepared. Erik raised his feeble sword in an awkward position, but there was no way he wouldn’t be unharmed in this exchange, and he knew it.
“Acuite vestre artis indica tatem verum!”
The swords clashed, clinking against each other. Erik had deflected the curved sword with the side of his blade, and since a slashing tool was not as adept at thrusting, Dias fell back, having lost his chance at the finishing blow.
Erik looked at his hand, amazed. A blue flame encompassed his hand in a radiating ember, because of Roy. Seeing Lloyd boosted from the spells was quite interesting in itself, but actually experiencing it himself was another matter. Erik felt full to the brim with newfound vigor and nimbleness. But was it enough to defeat Dias, he wondered.
“Ho, thou seem to have undergone an interesting transformation. But, my Muramasa will cut you down regardless!”
Dias attacked toward Erik, and this time Erik had predicted his movements. He hastily ducked and then brought his sword forward into Dias’s torso, impaling him right below his heart.
“Impressive indeed, little boy! However, thou misjudged one thing!” Dias kicked Erik with mighty strength. Erik lost grip on his sword and was pushed back a few feet. Dias reached for the hilt of Erik’s sword and drew it out of his punctured chest. In that timeframe, Dias didn’t seem to feel any pain at all, almost like he were a…monster
“Wha-what the heck are you?” Erik barely managed to say.
“I told thee, have I not?”
Roy joined, “He’s basically a zombie, from the looks of it.
“Couldn’t you figure it out from the eyes?”
Erik glanced back to the spot where he had stabbed Dias. The hole was a green, revolting conglomerate of tapeworms and decayed tissue. The worms slid all over, reminding him of a messy swirl of rotten spaghetti. The remains of what would be a human’s lungs were nowhere to be found.
“Try as thee might, thou cannot kill me,” Dias stated.
“We’ll see about that,” Erik retorted.
Erik figured that the only action that might kill this fiend was severing the head. Usually, the parasite lived in the host’s cranium and infected them. At least, that was what he learned in video games. Video games had never failed him before, so why shouldn’t he trust in them?
Erik gripped his sword above his shoulder and charged. Dias copied his movements, and suddenly it was a flurry of slashes and thrusts. All of them met with a shattering crackle, the swords connecting and crashing down each other like a raging thunderstorm. Erik brought his sword up and then quickly downwards, onto Dias’s Muramasa. Dias thrust, which was a fatal mistake for the seasoned fighter. Erik’s sword transferred its momentum to the Muramasa, and it stabbed through the wooden floor, wedged in place. Erik seized this chance and sliced Dias’s head clean off without hesitation. It fell to the floor and rolled a foot, Dias no more.
…Until the face smiled, “I submit. Thou have won this round, boy.”
Erik’s eyes widened, dumbfounded. Erik, without warning, kicked Dias at a window, breaking it into millions of bits and shards of glass. The meager head of Dias fell through, spinning in circles as he plummeted down to earth.
David merely commented, “Nice kick.”
“Oh, yuck. I have all this friggin’ green slime all over my shoe. Couldn’t help it though, the talking head just made me crack.”
“Talking head? Oh boy, where have I been…?” Lloyd entered, still a little drowsy from his afternoon nap.
“You don’t want to know,” Erik put simply, looking at his bloodstained sword.
“Dias never called this sword by its name, huh…I’ll call it Holybrand, since it just cut off a zombie’s head.”
“Well, what’d I miss?” Lloyd asked.
Before anyone else could speak, a blood-curdling scream from the next floor broke the mood. Everyone looked at each other; then all ran up as fast as they could to save whoever was in turmoil. Up the exact same staircase they went, one two, one two, the long trip to the top more ominous than ever. Hopefully, whoever screamed had not met their doom yet. David blasted open the door with a bad premonition.
“Oh, god, Daniel!”
Daniel was lying on the ground, deathly white. David looked beyond mortified, but quickly snapped out of it and rushed to his aid.
“Daniel! Are you okay!? Daniel, say something!” David felt for his pulse, any kind of heartbeat, but it was nonexistent.
“Ah, more humans to feast on, how wondrous,” a charismatic voice said.
Roy looked left, then right, and found the voice’s culprit. It was a tall, young man in his twenties. He wore a black robe from the legs to the neck with red, decorative linings on his arms. He held a quarterstaff, an odd weapon choice in Roy’s opinion. The man looked back at Roy, his black eyes darker than a raven. His onyx hair fell only on the sides and covered half his eyes. Next to him lay an old man, unconscious and prone on the wood. Roy assumed that the scream came from the old man, for there was a fresh pool of blood leaking out of his body. Behind Reeve was a stone pedestal, but instead of anything on it, there was a small spherical hole in the very middle, meaning that whatever was there was now stolen.
“Why hello there, I am Reeve. Pleasure to meet you folks,” Reeve licked his blood-smeared fingers, and then bowed low.
“Oh no, not another vampire,” Lloyd cried out.
Reeve chuckled, “Ahaha, how amusing. No, for your information, I am not a vampire, though I do indulge in blood. I assume you people were looking for me, the little necromancer on the run, hmm?”
Roy smiled, a rare sight to behold, “Why, yes, we have. You’re the clone of Mr. Luke, I presume.”
As soon as Reeve heard that, he cracked up, “Oh, yes, Luke. How has he been doing? Just peachy keen, I hope. I must say, I never thought I’d meet such a foolish genius.
“Creating clones with alchemy, ha! Luke may say that I am the bad guy, but in reality, I was not the one who split the world. Indeed, it was your foolish father. I’m sure he’s still shunned in his dump of a lab even today. What an imbecile.”
“Wait! Tell us more,” Roy yelled.
“If you can force me to,” Reeve challenged.
Erik looked elsewhere, blatantly confused, “Hey…where’d Arthur go? He never left this place, that’s for sure…”
Once again, Reeve was the first to answer, “Oh, my little Arthur. He thinks he’s my son, But I actually summon him, one soldier of my legions of undead. Admittedly, he gets on my nerve, so I released him for the time being.”
“Dammit…What’d you do to Daniel!?” David shouted with intense rage.
“Oh, nothing much. I extracted all his blood, but alas, he seems to have gone and perished.”
“You…you monster!” David ran at him, furious.
Reeve’s mouth grew into a crooked smile. He waved his fingers back and forth in a flaunting manner. David jabbed at him multiple times with no real strategy, screaming with all his might. Reeve, for some reason, didn’t even bother evading his angry rampage, and took the punches head on without flinching. It only enraged David even more, up to the point where he could’ve popped a vein. Reeve then grasped his quarterstaff and swung it at David, knocking him down.
“Furtum sanguinem eorum perire me!” Reeve chanted as his hands morphed into pure, ruby claws.
Roy abruptly screamed a warning, “David, get back!”
But the warning proved fruitless, for Reeve had David pinned helplessly to the ground. Reeve brought his ruby claws and seized David’s neck, strangling him.
“What…my body…can’t…move…” David said in between gasps of air.
“David! Stop it, Reeve!” Lloyd ran to them.
Reeve let go, cackling, “Hahahahahaha, the sweet blood of humans, how I adore it so…”
Lloyd dropped to David’s lifeless body, shaking him vigorously. Tears formed at the corners of Lloyd’s eyes, because David had been killed almost instantly before their own eyes.
Erik pulled out his newly attained Holybrand, “Roy, cast your spell, NOW!”
“Got it. Acuite vestre artis indica tatem verum!”
Erik dashed, sword in hand, “REEEEEEEEEVE!”
Reeve grabbed his quarterstaff on the ground just in the nick of time, blocking a deathblow to the head. He grinned condescendingly, and broke away from the clash.
“Well, monsieurs, I had quite a fun time with you, but I must take my leave to another country, Blizzandria. I’m on a limited time schedule here. Ta-ta. Ianuae Magicae ad Blizzandria!”
Reeve smashed his quarterstaff onto the ground, making riveting echoes. A black hole magically grew under Reeve, and he dropped into it. It shrunk and disappeared, just as quickly as it had appeared, leaving Erik, Roy, and Lloyd with an empty room of dead corpses. Lloyd continued to sob over David’s untimely death, wishing he could’ve done more. He reached into David’s pocket and took out Daniel’s pendant, then dropped his head in mourning.
Roy tapped his shoulder, “Hey, get up. No use crying over spilled milk.”
Lloyd got up in anger, “You call this spilled milk!? This is a human life we’re talking about here! David was our friend! Stop talking like you know everything, replica.”
Roy looked away, clearly at a loss for words. Erik cleared his throat, trying to break the tension. However, deep down, he silently agreed with Lloyd.
“We should go. There’s nothing else here, man or animal…” Erik stated.
They ended up walking to the ship, depressed and dejected. They took the same route back, through the winding forest as evening approached. It wasn’t nearly as hard finding their way out instead of in. Cicadas hugged the trees, buzzing with an incessant cry that seemed to mourn for David and Daniel. The sun started to fall, and droop until it was no longer in sight. After about an hour or two, they reached the SS Volupture, with one less passenger boarding…
“How did it go? Did you find Daniel? Er, where’s David?” Anna put her hands on her hips in a mixture of annoyance and confusion.
Lloyd and Erik couldn’t bring themselves to tell her the horrible truth. They walked past her without a word, ashamed. Anna stared intently at them, more perplexed than ever.
“They’re gone,” Roy said in a distant voice.
“Gone? Where to? Are they skipping out on work again?”
Roy walked right up to her face, “Gone. Dead, killed, murdered. That’s the kind of gone I’m talking about.”
“W-what? B-but…how? I don’t believe you at all!”
Roy strode past and brushed her aside, knowing it was useless convincing her. Anna continued denying his proposal, desperation in her voice. Tears began welling up as she slapped Roy for his inconsiderate mood. Roy ignored Anna and walked below deck.
“Chart a course for Blizzandria,” Roy commanded before closing the door.
“I don’t even know where that is! Are you telling me to just sail wherever the wind takes me? Ugh!” Anna stomped her foot on the Volupture in frustration.
“Are you okay, madam? Is something troubling you?” the old grey-haired helmsman had left his position due to concern.
“…Nothing. We’re heading northeast, Mr. Walker. See to it that we sail pronto by dawn tomorrow.”
“What? Preposterous! Beyond Rukefellth lies uncharted waters and you know it, Anna!”
Anna shrugged, and returned to the captain’s cabin for the night. The helmsman, Mr. Walker, shook his head in disapproval, but said nothing. Mr. Walker had sensed the total sadness in her voice. He knew naught of the tragedy, but understood that words could not reach her.
“Dammit!” Lloyd punched his pillow.
“I swear, Reeve, you’ll pay for David and Daniel…I swear!”
Far, far away, in an endless blizzard, Reeve laughed as if he had heard those exact words.
Chapter 7
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Lloyd awoke from the creaking hub of the Volupture. He rubbed his eyes lazily, and dropped back in bed for a few more minutes of sleep. He couldn’t fall asleep, though, tossing and turning with inaudible mumbles. Lloyd turned on his back, expecting a cotton pillow, but accidentally rolled off the bed and conked his head on a rough, wooden floor.
“Ouch!”
Erik opened the door and saw Lloyd sitting criss-cross apple-sauce and massaging his forehead.
“Uh…are you all right?”
“I’m fine…” Lloyd hobbled over to the kitchen like a zombie with Erik following.
“Why hello, monsieurs! Would you two like the eggs benedict?” Troy said with a chortle.
Lloyd groaned a “Mmm”, which Troy took as a yes. Troy turned on the stove and began frivolously frying an egg in a metal pan. The tantalizing smell lingered over to Erik, who was already licking his lips in hunger. Lloyd had his hand on his cheek, deep in thought. Even when the porcelain plate was thrust in front of his face he absent-mindedly picked at his food, not eating so much as a bite.
Erik stared at him, then dropped his fist onto the table, “Lloyd, get a grip! We already went over this. You’re not responsible for what happened yesterday.”
Lloyd looked down, “It’s not just that…seeing Daniel and David, that old man…I never thought death could be so horrifying…”
Erik realized he’d spoken out of turn, and nodded in agreement. They finished up breakfast and walked to the upper deck. When they opened the door and peeked out, though, there wasn’t a soul in sight. Only the helmsman stood at duty. Lloyd saw that there was no one overseeing the deck, nor anyone in the recently repaired crow’s nest. Lloyd clicked his tongue in exasperation for not expecting this. After all, nothing can bring back the dead. Ejecting the ridiculous notion from his mind, he turned to the sea. It was much more serene than the last encounter, which was with that surreal sea monster that indirectly caused Daniel’s death. He noticed they were going northeast, and into unknown territory. It was only a matter of time until they reached the second half of Erath, a part of the world never before seen in decades. Perhaps they had already passed the border, and were sailing on an ocean with new and distinct fish with a plethora of races evolved into another branch different from our natural selection. Lloyd thought about his father, and it raised a peculiar question. If his father had lived since before the world split, which could’ve been more than fifty some odd years ago, why was he still so young? Just how old was he in actuality? It must have been the works of alchemy, a science even more mysterious to Lloyd than ever. Lloyd felt he understood less and less about his father as time went on.
Lloyd scratched his head and was about to walk to Anna’s cabin when a dog head butted Erik and started licking him. Archy wacked his tail apprehensively and panted like he had just ran a mile.
Erik smiled wryly, “Oh, hey buddy. Sorry, your master’s on a trip. But don’t worry, he’ll be back. I know he will…”
Anna barged out of her door, huffing and puffing, “Hey! One of you two, get up on the crow’s nest! I don’t want any mishaps happening at sea under my watch! Since we’re undermanned, you people better not be slacking off!”
“Yes ma’am,” Lloyd sighed.
“I’ll be below deck if you need me, wouldn’t want Anna shoving another job onto us like slaves,” Erik joked.
He climbed the lengthy ladder just as before, reminiscing David’s bragging about the looming tower not too long ago. At the top, he looked around in a 360 motion for any objects that could hamper the Volupture’s progress. Some modifications were made in the renovation of the crow’s nest, and Lloyd could tell it was much roomier than it had been before Rukefellth. There was a telescope placed in front of him, just begging to be used. He shrugged, figuring he might as well. He placed his eye into the small hole, and could not see what or where the telescope was aiming at. He tried adjusting it with small knobs at its side, but all he saw was blue, blue, and more blue water. He was about to give up on the telescope when he saw a giant swirly dip down in the ocean. Focusing the telescope, he discerned that that swirly was none other than a whirlpool. Lloyd adjusted the horizontal planes and looked left; trying to look for a way to dodge this natural phenomenon, but there was another whirlpool. He looked to the right, and found yet another whirlpool.
Lloyd, flabbergasted, rubbed his eyes and looked out into the ocean with his own sight. There weren’t just a few whirlpools; there was a whole chain of whirlpools stretching across the sea! Lloyd conked himself in the head, he should’ve anticipated this. If two worlds collided together, even if they were matching jigsaw pieces, it’d still cause chaotic natural disasters in the collision area. But there didn’t seem to be a solution to this predicament. They were already nearing the whirlpools, he wasn’t sure if they would turn in time. He had to hurry and tell Mr. Walker. He rushed down, careful enough not to lose grip on the ladder but in a clear hurry.
“Mr. Walker!”
“Yes, Lloyd?”
“There’s a chain of whirlpools in front of us! I need you to change course NOW!”
“What!? Okay, I’ll try, but no guarantees!”
Mr. Walker sharply turned the steering wheel right, causing the ship to veer right. But it was still travelling into the whirlpools. They were close enough to see from the bow now, whirling as if a toilet had just flushed. Lloyd and Mr. Walker could already tell that their efforts were going to waste. Lloyd ran to Anna’s cabin and told her the news, her eyes opening wide at the information.
He decided that he wouldn’t reach Erik, Troy in time to inform them. He had no idea where Roy was, but it had to be below deck as well. Roy probably overslept, but time was short, and Lloyd had more pressing matters to deal with it.
Opening the deck door, he screamed louder than he ever thought he could into the threshold, “THERE’S A WHIRLPOOL COMING! BRACE YOURSELVES!”
That’s when it hit.
Walker suddenly lost all control of the ship, and then quickly scuttled for cover, any shape or form. The ship rocked uncontrollably, rapid waters overtaking and throwing it wherever the current pleased. The ship spun around in circles, and inched closer to its doom. Lloyd ran to the helm and gripped it as tightly as possible, pulling it until his strength depleted. It was the only hope they had, but Lloyd once again, was not strong enough to protect his comrades. He cursed himself for being so useless, but hopelessly tried to will the steering wheel to move.
“Percute iustitiae augmentum virtutis!”
Lloyd was suddenly overwhelmed with immeasurable strength. His hands blazed into a fiery red flame, and he knew that Roy had once again come to the rescue. He steered the wheel right, steadying the ship in this raging vortex and then left to prevent capsizing. The ship stayed straight, and Lloyd had no trouble maintaining this direction. Water splashed high against the walls of the boat, but Lloyd no longer felt fear, only the surge of adrenaline rising and providing him more energy. Eventually, after what seemed like hours, the Volupture jumped out of the whirlpool without a scratch, safe and sound. Lloyd sighed and dropped to the ground, fatigued beyond belief. They had dodged death, once more.
Roy scratched his head, “Must you always require my aid? It’s quite troubling when I can’t even sleep without a ruckus waking me from my slumber.”
“Jesus, Lloyd! No one ever told me we signed up for a rollercoaster ride! Man, this ship is just a magnet for crazy disasters,” Erik walked over, clearly excited and hyper from the shaky water ride.
Lloyd detested his theatrics, “Would it kill you to get a little more serious? You know we could’ve died!”
Erik snickered, “I’m just lightening up the mood!”
But just then, the boat skidded to a stop, and collided with what felt like a giant wall, sending everyone sprawling to the ground.
“W-what the!? Are we running aground!?” Erik yelled out.
Lloyd crawled over to the edge of the deck and looked down. No, they had not run aground, theoretically speaking. They had stopped short, an unbelievable and stupefying natural wonder crushing the lower levels of the Volupture and puncturing a giant hole. They would’ve been sinking, if not for what they had run into. What was once a magnificent sea of sapphire had frozen over into a vast field of ice that lasted for miles and miles.
“Uh, we didn’t exactly run aground, Erik…” Lloyd said meekly.
“Oh…oh my god…” Erik looked out to the distance, dumbstruck.
“I thought the ocean was supposed to go on until you reached land, Lloyd? That’s what your father told me.”
“Uh…yes…”
Mr. Walker randomly jumped out of a bag of wheat, “Are we alive!? Thank the heavens!”
“Hey! What happened? First you yell at me about whirlpools and now we crashed? Who in tarnations was driving this freaking thing?” Anna criticized.
Anna saw everyone staring beyond the ship, and strode over in a lady-like stride. Then she saw the field of ice, and was pleasantly surprised. She looked down to where the ship had met with the ice.
Anna scowled at the ship’s hull, now torn asunder, “Sorry, guys, looks like we’re out of commission again.”
“That’s fine. We could just wait for repairs,” Erik said.
“So…uh…how are we going to sail past this?”
“Beats me,” Lloyd was at a loss.
“What are you fools talking about? We’re walking through this, how else,” Roy shook his head in disappointment.
“Y-you’ve gotta be kidding me! You know how long it would take to walk through all this? How do we even know there’s anything past this?”
“Reeve went to Blizzandria. Does that ring a bell? Clearly, there’s no other place for a blizzard to make its home other than cold climate.”
“Still…”
Roy walked off the ramp of the Volupture and stepped onto the large cold field. Lloyd didn’t know if they’d slip or slide walking around it. Moreover, they would probably need more than a standard t-shirt and pants. The hardened ice looked as if it would freeze you at the touch of a finger. There wasn’t a plant or living being in sight, but that was to be expected.
Lloyd shivered with a “Brrr!”
Mr. Walker pulled off his coat and held it out, “Would you like a coat?”
Lloyd grabbed it with much affection and tried it on. The brown, aged coat was a little too big for him, but it would have to do. Erik and Roy seemed to be perfectly fine; they didn’t look like they needed any more layers of clothes for warmth. Lloyd however, was always weak when it came to the cold. He remembered the countless winters when he was younger, always accompanied with multiple colds and fevers that took weeks to overcome. Lloyd and Erik followed Roy who was impatiently tapping his foot for them.
As soon as Lloyd stepped on the frozen plains he started skidding and fell right on his butt. He winced in pain, but ruefully got back up. Erik laughed, took a step forward, and immediately slipped and fell on his back.
“Urgh…”
Lloyd laughed his heart out, “Serves you right! Karma, man.”
“Hey, we’ll be waiting for you guys here!” Anna hollered out.
Erik waved goodbye at her, then slipped again, but caught himself this time. Already he dreaded the trek to no man’s land. He honestly doubted that anyone could live in the vicinity of this frozen hell. For all he know, it would only get colder from here on out.
They walked, walked, each step clinking with the ice. It was a wonder it didn’t crack at their combined weight. If he knew they were treading on ice, Lloyd thought, he would’ve brought his ice skates. The idea made him smile, when a walrus suddenly broke through the ice with a codfish skewered between his jaws. The walrus munched on it enjoyably, and glanced at Roy, who happened to be the closest.
“Arf?” the walrus curiously barked.
Roy’s intimidating glare back frightened the poor seal, and he dived back into his homely waters, the tiny pool’s ripples receding back to its original stillness.
“Scary even to animals,” Erik muttered.
Lloyd bent down and peered beneath the ice, stumbling upon a raft of penguins swimming in every direction but up. There were multitudes of arctic fish escaping their clutches, similar to a serious game of tag. Lloyd watched them, amused, until realizing Erik and Roy had left him behind.
“Wait up!” Lloyd sprinted forth.
Lloyd took heavy, careless steps across the ice. Lloyd was too much in a hurry to see that every foreboding step cracked the ice’s surface.
“Oh, looks like you stop staring at the ground,” Erik smiled.
Lloyd skidded to a stop, “Phew, you guys su-“
*CRACK* the ice shattered into itty-bitty fragments, dropping Lloyd into sub-zero temperature. Lloyd scrambled for a handhold, sputtering out mouthfuls of seawater.
“Blr-help-rgh me!”
Erik and Roy ran to help, pulling his frozen palms out. But as he was being hauled out, Lloyd felt a strong tug at the soles of his drenched shoes. The feeling was faint, for his feet were beyond numb, but it was there. Lloyd took a guess that it could have only been one animal, the very same seal they had met moments ago. It must’ve been pulling him into the subterranean ocean, choosing Lloyd as his next tasty morsel. This life or death situation continued, some warped form of tug-of-war. Eventually, the winner pulled and pulled, until Lloyd…
“Blargh!” Lloyd flew out of the hole, dripping and freezing, but safe and sound.
“O-o-oh m-m-m-my g-g-g-o-od!” Lloyd held his chest tightly, his whole body trembling in spasms and gasps.
If Lloyd had ever wanted a time to go home, this would be it. Here he sat, doused in frozen water, and now he was chattering like a squirrel. There was no doubt he’d get pneumonia or hypothermia, frostbite at the least. As if those pessimistic thoughts weren’t enough, a lash of wind whipped his face, laughing at his terrible luck.
“Ha, you look like a frozen fish stick!” Erik jested.
Lloyd replied to that with a grunt, and quickly threw off Mr. Walker’s brown coat into the sea. It was only making him shiver more and more, anyway.
They started walking again, albeit a mite slower so Lloyd could recover from the freezing frost and pick off bits of ice stuck in his clothes.
“Ugh…I blame you guys.”
“Well, it’s only going to get worse,” Roy pointed in front of us.
There was an insane blizzard flitting in every which angle like a brutal tempest. There was land, but it was covered in deep layers of snow, and snowy evergreens that appeared to be snowmen from afar. Lloyd and Erik focused their eyes, and both surmised that there was a giant and great mountain in the background.
Lloyd sighed, and collapsed to the ground, spent. Life was never better, he thought. Now, if only he had that coat right about now.
Chapter 8 in progress. Currently 29 pages, 16,984 words. Over half done after a bit of editing. I ended up cutting a part out in between chapter 5/6 but I couldn't figure out how to slay a dragon with 3 teenagers. blah
