Arcane Tales

Derek: <I-I... well... I'm afraid of fire.>

*He cringes.*

Lucien rises from the ground shakily and slowly walks to Kelphy and places qa hand on her shoulder, "Perhaps we should go stand by Derek's side then?"

---

Creed pulls his jacket up, "Didn't notice how cold it was till now..."

---

"Heh... or just get better control in general."

~Fire Shrine~

*He realizes she has fallen asleep sitting against the wall, sweat dripping down her face.*

-----

Efreet: <There's nothing frightening about fire, for it is but a blessing of Nature. Men, they are frightening.>

*He just stares at Derek for a few seconds.*

Efreet: <But you have a noble heart. I will aid you in what you need, if you wish me to.>

*He stares at the ring, waiting for an answer.*

=====

~Ice Shrine~

*The blizzard thickens to a point where can't see beyond a couple yards around them, and the wind is so strong it almost knocks them down.*

=====

~Fahren's Tower~

Fahren: <But that is what I am saying. Control it better so that you don't release such an exagerated amount of magic. Your friends should be back soon. I will tell you everything you missed while asleep.>

*Arte Crystal talk.*

"I... see... that is quite a breakthrough you've made Master Fahren" Alto nods. "Master Fahren..." there was a long pause before he spoke again. "What is the true nature of Origin?"

---

Lucien smiles a bit and wraps them both in a half open sphere of shadow hands. It cools the temperature down slightly.

---

"Shit... this blizzard is getting bad!"

"...What?"

*Kari holds on to the rabbit and follows Allina out.*

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"Really? I hardly noticed."

*Kentaro wraps his arms around himself tighter and his hopping up and down, shivering.*

*Derek holds out the pact ring towards Efreet.*

Derek: <And I accept your assistance.>

~Fire Shrine~

*Efreet disappears in a flash of light as a stream of fire flies into the pact ring. Next thing Derek knows, he's standing back outside the room, in the cave next to Lucien and Kelphy, who is sleeping sitting against a wall. They're both under a half open sphere of shadow hands. Lucien knows they should probably hurry since they've taken a lot longer than they were supposed to and Aera must be waiting outside by now.*

~Lucien, Derek and Kelphy obtained 800 Gald!~

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~Ice Shrine~

*Still waiting around for the airship, which is apparently late. Your characters, your dialogue, if any.*

~Creed and Kentaro obtained 800 Gald!~

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~Wind Shrine~

*Walking out of the shrine, they realize the sun is almost down. Allina sits down on the step by the door.*

Allina: <Booh, Aera is late. Sooo, Kaari, tell me about Kenta. Not the usual shy girl comments, I wanna know the truuuth.>

~Kari and Allina obtained 800 Gald!~

=====

~Fahren's Tower~

Fahren: <... I-I don't know much myself. I think it is strange there are no records of pacts being formed with him, and that it is Luna that is guiding you through your mission. She could be a messenger... What troubles you?>

Derek: <Let's go!>

*He scurries his way towards the exit, pyrophobia obvious.*

"What... What do you mean?"

=====================================================

*Kentaro resumes shivering.*

"The Aeldi are afraid of him, or at least I gather, some are. The Aeldi known as Shadow once told me 'Do not presume that your god is a benevolent one' before he returned to his world. If Creed hasn't told you the full story... I will. The Crive family is one of Alda's noblest households. It is also the one that is the most corrupt. Long ago they tore an aeldi from the other world and bound it to a young woman, my mother, Cheska Crive. Using the pact ring as a core they weaved a powerful magic into her that bound the Aeldi known as Shadow to her very soul. They made her into Shadow's prison. They wanted to harness the power of the other world to stage a coup and steal the throne" he paused.

"However before that could happen my mother had fallen in love with a man named Crucis. That man, my father, was a schemer. He intend to use my mother in much... worse ways than the family did. Soon after I was born it was found out that the power my family wanted had passed from my mother to me. Seeing her as useless they abandoned her back to Crucis. I don't remember much of what happened after that. I was 7 at the time. That time though is when she died. Shadow had some how managed to force her to stab herself to death in order to free himself from his bonds. I was there when he did it. Thats when he told about Origin. Its what sparked my interest in the other side. After that I began to study the Aeldi instead of heeding my family's wishes. Eventually I simply ran away."

"I can never forgive my family nor the Aeldi Shadow for their respective misdeeds. However... Luna... has... she reminds me of my mother. Call it a child's repressed longing but... I want to meet her again. There are questions I need to ask Luna. About the Aeldi and about this power thats slowly starting to bear flowers instead me..."

---

Lucien waves to Derek as he stands and carries Kelphy in his arms. "Let's get going. Our ride should be here waiting."

*As they are walk to the top of the volcano, Lucien sees not only Aera's Aldanian airship (which is obviously familiar to Derek), but also another larger one, fully made of metal and with a large blue half sphere on its underside and a small dome of light covering its bridge. Aera is standing at the top of the volcano with Olympe. The former bows to Derek as they arrive, while the latter bows to Kelphy.*

Aera&Olympe: <Y-Your Highness!>

Kelphy: <Captain!>

Olympe: <You're here! But how?>

Aera: <What happened, how can this be? Whose airship is this? It's amazing.>

=====

Allina: <Well, duh. You obviously like him and he obviously likes you too and neither of you will admit it. Us girls gotta wear the pants sometimes, right?>

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Fahren: <...Shadow. I am sure you will see Luna again soon. But... Shadow telling you this... It would appear it is time to tell you all everything I know...>

"Shadow is Luna's opposite, at the time I didn't place much faith in his word... however... now..."

---

"That's an amazing ship" his jaw drops and he lets Kelphy down now that she's awake.

OOC: The Garuda looks more like Final Fantasy VIII's Ragnarok.

"...What?"

Derek: <I want to get out of here ASAP.>

*He walks past, shivering slightly.*

Kelphy: <This is... well, it's a long story.>

Aera: <We still have to pick up the remaining two pairs.>

Kelphy: <Oh, we can take the new airship then. It's a lot faster than any other I've ever seen, and it only takes one person to fly it.>

Olympe: <Amazing. Very well then. Aera?>

Aera: <I'll get what I need from our airship and tell the crew to head back to Sephira.>

Kelphy: <Great.>

*Minutes later, they're all teleported into The Garuda. When they get to the bridge, Kelphy walks up to the controls and lays her right hand on a small blue sphere. A map of Verte appears within the section of the light dome ahead of them like a GPS screen. Aera is standing next to her, reading the manual.*

Aera: <It can be powered by anything containing magic. I'm sure we I can use the Arte Crystals to steer it in your place, princess.>

Kelphy: <Thank you. You just use the sphere and think of where you want to go or who you want to meet. It detects magic sources.>

*Aera nods and takes over. Soon, the airship darts through the skies at high speed, leaving a blue trail of magic behind like a shooting star. Olympe returns to the bridge after checking the airship and turns to the group.*

Olympe: <All right, so we have a kitchen, several bedrooms, what I assume to be a laboratory, a library, several storage rooms and I think some sort of isolated room, probably for training purposes. We'll be arriving at the Ice Shrine shortly.>

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Allina: <Erm--why don't you tell him you like him? It seems to be the logical thing to do.>

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Fahren: <Don't... don't worry about that too much. I'll prepare some dinner. It will probably still be a while until they return... (I hope they do return.)>

Derek: <Good. Thank you for your efforts, you two.>

*He bows to Olympe and Aera.*

Derek: <Do we have any word from Sephira or Alda's nobility?>

"What aren't you telling me Fahren... Master Fahren?" Alto asks.

---

Lucien stands in awe, "This ship is amazing Kelphy!"

"But what if he doesn't like me? What if he feels weird about it and never speaks to me again?"

*Clearly panicing, she hugs the rabbit as it it's going to do something.*

Kelphy: <Isn't it? Just wait until we tell you how we got it.>

*They both bow back.*

Olympe: <Last we spoke to the Kings of Alda, Sephira and Toros in the Torosian palace, we were sent to find Your Highness and Lady Kelphy and defeat Crone. I suppose that's what we're doing, even if not the way we had planned to.>

Aera: <I'd like to remind everyone I'm selling Arte Crystals to anyone who needs them.>

*Soon, they fly through a heavy blizzard down towards the Ice Shrine. Kentaro and Creed are standing by the entrance to the cave. Aera presses a button and the sphere on the underside of the airship starts glowing, ready to bring them in. Aera leans forward and speaks to a small microphone.*

Aera: <Stand beneath the sphere to be brought in, guys!>

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*A large metal ship with a blue sphere on its underside and a light dome covering the bridge-The Garuda (I'm sure you've both seen the picture)-comes flying through the blizzard and stops not too far ahead, hovering about. The big blue sphere on its underside starts glowing, allowing them to see clearly through the heavy snow in the dark. They hear a loud familiar voice coming from a speaker somewhere on the airship.*

Aera: <Stand beneath the sphere to be brought in, guys!>

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Fahren: <I will you tell you everything soon enough. Let's hope our friends manage to defeat Crone.>

*He goes to sit by his desk, staring at a map where he's marked an area of the Aldanian ocean with a red X.*

Fahren: <(But what is he planning on doing next... He isn't one to just wait around.)>

"Then maybe we should plan something in case he makes his move here and now?" Alto offers.

---

"About time" Creed moves under the light.

Derek: <This may be a bad time, but I'd like to buy a Lionheart crystal!>

*He readies himself to enter the blizzard.*

*They stand under their respective orbs.*

*Creed and Kentaro disappear in a flash of light, reappearing on a metal platform above the inside of the sphere, a stairway away from the bridge, where everyone else is.*

Aera: <All righty.>

*Aera gets an orange marble-sized sphere from a bag nearby and gives it to Derek. (Add the skill to your inventory and subtract its value in Gald.)*

Olympe: <We get Allina and Kari at the Wind Shrine next. Did everyone succeed?>

*The ship rockets through the skies.*

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Allina: <Are you kidding me? I'm pretty sure it's even more obvious that he likes you than that you like him. Seriously, I'm surprised you haven't noticed. You two are so cute, all clueless. Ya should really tell him, I promise you'll feel great if you do.>

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Fahren: <I've made it clear I don't have what he needs several times. I'm more worried he'll try to find it somewhere else and even more that I don't know where.>

"He's been tainting Aeldi. Assuming he continues to use this MO he'll likely try and go after the Origin itself... which would be very bad" Alto comments.

---

""We did""

"Do you really think so?"

=====================================================

*Kentaro rubs his arms.*

[I feel like someone's talking about me. Or I have frostbite in my ears.]