Times of Darkness

Ryzell takes her hand, "Ok" and for the first time in his entire life he spoke with a honest heart.

*Lumyr quickly rises to his feet and deflects the arrows, then runs behind one and raises his sheathed sword, aiming to knock him out from the back of his head.*

=====

Winston: <Well this doesn't look good...>

*Winston falls through.*

Inside

~Ranmaru~

*Cecenia takes off to her room once she and Ranmaru arrive back at Helzol Palace. Aera walks into the Grand Hall, spotting Ranmaru.*

Aera: <Hey soldier guy, back already?>

---

Outside

~Balmung & Winston~

*Allina does too, a piece of wood tearing through her left leg a few inches above the knee as she lands. She muffles a shriek with her hands before slowly trying to get up, groaning in pain. Meanwhile, Ella has grabbed Olympe with one hand and is spinning her around above her head. Razz is just observing the show with a smile on his face, both of them unaware of the difficulties Allina's facing just a couple dozen yards away.*

=====
~Lumyr~

*He knocks that one out as a new wave of arrows comes flying towards him. The venom starts spreading across his chest. He starts getting kind of wheezy.*

=====
~Ryzell~

*They fade and the flower blooms once more outside the house, by the barred window. Rhea looks at him for a few seconds before silently heading out of the village in the direction opposite to the one Ryzell arrived there from.*

=====
~Crone~

*Boom, bang, yippee, shit flying everywhere.*

Ryzell follows silently.

---

"We ran into... complications. Where's Legel? He needs to know that they can sense what we are."

Lumyr: (I might be able to take them on, but it isn't worth the risk to continue this... might as well make a dash for it.)

*Lumyr does his best to ignore the wheezing as he dashes away, outrunning pretty much anything with a hope of catching up to him. When he's a safe distance away from the archers, he leans up against another tree.*

Lumyr: (I'm in a pretty bad bind here... what should I do?)

====

*Winston tries his best to stand and reaches for his pistols on the ground beside him. He points them both, aiming for Allina's head.*

Winston: <Don't... move... a muscle...>

*Winston struggles to ignore the bruises and scrapes underneath his clothes.*

Inside

~Ranmaru~

Aera: <That's Master Legel to you, and you should know to report to me and no one else! Also, I--we, know they can sense Helzol's dark power. Come with me, I'll-->

*Her eyes seem to shift to red for a second and she winces. Then, she sighs and looks at him.*

Aera: <Never mind that. I'm sending you as backup to General Lumyr. Once you find him, you are to evaluate the situation and help him either retreat or proceed with his mission. I'll see that the Gatekeeper knows you're coming and prepares the proper coordinates.>

---

Outside

~Balmung & Winston~

*Allina widens her eyes in horror, her wounded leg shaking uncontrollably as she struggles to remain standing. Razz finally looks at them and starts running towards them, leaving Ella to beat Olympe up some more.*

Razz: <Allina!!>

=====
~Lumyr~

*Once again, he's safe. It won't last long. His breathing gets a bit heavier as the venom spreads down to his waist (ohlol) and up to his neck.*

=====
~Ryzell~

*As they're walking a feeling of emptiness starts growing inside of him and he starts feeling a little sick in his stomach. Nothing happens that could explain this.*

=====
~Crone~

*Encore.*

Ryzell stumbles, "Shit... what's this feeling?"

---

"As you wish Mistress Aera"

*Lumyr continues resting and tries to catch his breath while he can.*

====

*As Winston presses down on the triggers of his guns, he realizes they're out of ammo. In desperation, he holsters them and runs at Allina, attempting to tackle her and hopefully crush her under his weight.*

Inside

~Ranmaru~

*Whenever he gets his butt to the Crossroads, the Gatekeeper is holding a coord orb out to him.*

---

Outside

~Balmung & Winston~

*Allina's knocked unconscious, still bleeding profusely from her leg. Meanwhile, Ella is standing on a downed Olympe's back, holding her victim's arms up. She pulls them further back and a loud "crack" is heard, followed by a scream muffled between Olympe's mouth and the ground.*

=====
~Lumyr~

*His eyes shift to red as usual anytime he receives a message from the palace. A deep eery voice is heard in his head.*

[???: <Helzol is sending a soldier as backup. You are to await him before making any other move.>]

=====
~Ryzell~

*The weird feeling starts going away. They reach a dead end. The forest path ends at the top of a tall cliff towering over the ocean. Some distance ahead a giant kingdom of stone houses in shades of grey and white, with rooves and a palace in shades of blue. Reah glances at Ryzell, fully aware she is breaking an important rule of the kingdom, and then holds her hand out towards the kingdom and clenches her fist. A blue glowing circular glyph with a trident at its center appears before them briefly, before the waters of the ocean start rising, creating a bridge of highly pressurized water.*

Rhea: <...They might not react to the fact you're from Helzol very easily. But... But I think I can convince them.>

"I think... that they might have placed some sort of spell on me. If I loose control I want you to stop me if you can" Ryzell tells her. "I feel... so confused..."

---

Ranmaru takes it and nods.

Lumyr: (Ah... so I've slacked off that much? I should probably focus on the objective more after this is all done...)

====

*Winston gets up and quickly reloads his guns.*

Inside

*Crone enters the palace into the Grand Hall. Aera is standing on the stairs.*

Aera: <Finally, one of you is back.>

Crone: <Ryzell and Lumyr aren't back yet?>

Aera: <No. According to Master Legel, Ryzell seems to either be straying from his goal or tricking a girl into helping him get to the royal family discreetly. Despite his stupid approach, it is slowly but steadily working. Hopefully that IS what he is trying to do, Master Legel didn't seem very pleased. Lumyr got poisoned and I had to send backup.>

*Crone chuckles, fixing his bangs.*

Crone: <As pathetic as can be, those two.>

*He begins to make his way up the stairs, but Aera grabs his shoulder as he's walking past her.*

Aera: <Wait! How did it go?>

Crone: <Hasn't Master Legel told you?...I'm afraid it didn't go as well as I would've expected. See, I interrupted the King and Queen during a rather... intimate moment.>

---

Outside

~Balmung & Winston~

*Olympe sinks into her own shadow and reappears next to Winston.*

Olympe: <We can't beat them... the kid broke my arms...!>

*Razz grits his teeth in a grin, looking from Winston to Allina.*

=====
~Lumyr & Ranmaru~

*Lumyr has explored further into that city than Helzol ever has, so soldiers can now be teleported anywhere he's been and, as such, Ranmaru appears right next to him in a flash of light.*

=====
~Ryzell~

*Rhea seems worried, but proceeds across the bridge. As it ends at the city gates, several guards surround them, sensing Helzol Palace in Ryzell.*

Guard1: <Stop right there! Rhea? Can't you feel that he is from Helzol?!>

Rhea: <P-Please! He's no longer with them. He wishes to surrender to the royal family!>

Guard2: <Then we'll take him there ourselves!>

Rhea: <No! The K-King specifically asked me to bring him.>

*Oddly enough, they take that like an order and step away from them, letting them through the gate. Rhea heads down the main road towards the palace.*

Ryzell grabs his head as he passes the guards and whispers, "If I lose control rally the guards to the palace. She won't be able to stop me alone" before following Rhea.

I don't know how much longer I can fight this off... I'm sorry.

---

"I'm surprised you actually managed to make it this far general Lumyr"

Lumyr: <Yes, well, I'm somewhat shocked myself.>

*Lumyr wills himself to his feet.*

Lumyr: <So what do we do from here?>

====

Winston: (Damn... this place does have stronger opponents than what we've been dealing with if we've been pushed into a corner so easily.)

*Winston pulls out both his guns, prepared to shoot at the slightest movement, and leans in to Olympe's ear while doing so.*

Winston: <[So what do you think we should do, then?]>

Outside

~Balmung & Winston~

Olympe: <I... I'm not sure.>

*Razz draws five knives in each hand and Ella approaches, cracking her knuckles. Suddenly, a flash of light blinds them momentarily. When they regain their sight, Aera stands in between the two teams, holding her giant hammer vertically to her right. She looks at the very surprised Ella and Razz and smirks.*

Aera: <Let's do this then.>

=====
~Lumyr & Ranmaru~

*More arrows rain upon them. The archers seem to be multiplying by the second.*

=====
~Ryzell~

*Down the road they arrive at the palace's entrance. Rhea explains the situation to the guards once more, and they escort them inside. Soon, a beautiful young woman in a luxurious blue dress comes walking down the stairs. She has shoulder-length dark blue hair with a little braid behind her right ear and sidebangs and deep blue eyes. She stops before them and looks from Rhea to Ryzell with a rather preoccupied look on her face. Rhea and the soldiers bow, and the princess does responds with a similar gesture.*

Rhea: <Your Ladyship. I found all of the herbs.>

Kelphy: <...Who is he?>

Rhea: <R-Ryzell.>

Kelphy: <W-What?>

Rhea: <Ryzell.>

*Kelphy widens her eyes and looks at Ryzell, gasping in surprise.*

Kelphy: <But he's a-->

Rhea: <I think he lost his memory... I was coming to ask if you could help with that... please?>

Kelphy: <How did you find him?>

Rhea: <Well, he was at Shivesburg... and I...>

*Rhea frowns a little, realizing she wasn't even sure what he was doing there, and turns to him like she expects him to finish the explanation.*

"I was..." he grabs his head and lets out a yell. "Agh... can't... think... Rhea... he's... he's in my... my head. Legel... GAH!" a black aura overcomes Ryzell and his eyes go blank when he draws his sword. He lashes out at Kelphy with spirit flames.

---

"Lets chat later" Ranmaru dodges and grabs Lumyr by the collar to drag him out of harm's way.

Lumyr: <I'm... I'm perfectly fine on my own.

*Lumyr starts coughing and wheezing pretty badly.*

====

Winston: <Wait... where did you... I mean... well, whatever.>

*Winston starts barraging Ella and Razz with bullets, aiming for Ella more than Razz.*

Outside

~Balmung & Winston~

*Ella leaps high in the air and rockets down towards Winston at high speed, aiming to punch him. Glowing blue mist surrounds her and flash freezes, falling in front of Winston. Razz runs towards Aera, who swings her hammer at him, throwing him up in the air. She then turns to Winston and Olympe, as Razz crashes down behind her.*

Aera: <And that, as they say, is that.>

=====
~Lumyr & Ranmaru~

*Hiding is all Lumyr's been doing and the archers aren't falling for it again any time soon. They give chase, constantly shooting barrages of arrows at them. Lumyr's face starts turning green as they approach the palace.*

=====
~Ryzell~

Kelphy: <Guards!>

*A jet of water blasts through the floor, striking through the flames, as more water gathers around Rhyzel and the guards grab Rhea and pull her away.*

Rhea: <W-Wait, Ryzell! What are you doing?!>

*Kelphy gathers energy in her hands and blasts Ryzell with a jet of highly pressurized water towards the door, aiming to take the battle outside and avoid damaging the palace.*

"Kitsune-bi" the flames dance and turned from emerald green to brilliant blue cold flames as Ryzell is launched through the door. He lands on his feet and the flames form into a giant fox apparition.

"*Youkai Waza: Mouka Kyouran" flames spark in the air forming into dancing fireballs which fly towards Kelphy before revealing their true form as fox spirits that lash and bite at her.

Inside his mind Ryzell was screaming out for Rhea.

---

"You were poisoned" Ranmaru states before tossing Lumyr a flask. "Drink it."

---

* Apparition Art: Raging Flames Display

*Without a second thought, Lumyr grabs it and guzzles the whole thing back in one huge gulp it. Anything would be better than the hell he's been going through. Quickly, he throws the empty flask away and starts deflecting arrows again.*

====

*Winston looks at the frozen Ella and pokes her with his finger.*

Winston: (Those abilities never cease to amaze...)

*Winston looks at Razz downed on the floor and lifts his right hand to aim at him, leaving his left gun targeted on Ella just in case.*

Winston: <Shouldn't we make sure these two are finished first?>

Outside

~Balmung & Winston~

Aera: <I think I'll leave you to do that. There are a few more important people I've been ordered to kill and I don't want to be late.>

*She desintegrates into ice particles. Razz attempts to stand up, but his back are messed up from the fall and he fails. Olympe smirks and walks to Ella. Since her arms are broken, the takes a deep breath, preparing to blow a blast of darkness through her. Suddenly, she's run through the chest by a light blade and falls to the ground. Two light whips wrap around Lumyr's gun, keeping him from moving them. Allina is holding one in each hand, standing among the inn rubble.*

=====
~Lumyr & Ranmaru~

*The antidote will take a while to produce effect. While he's happily dodging arrows, the ground around and then beneath them starts melting into corrosive purple goo.*

=====
~Ryzell~

*Standing by the door, Kelphy rockets into the sky atop a large serpent dragon of water. The dragon's head then descends towards Ryzell, Kelphy shooting blasts of pressurized water at him.*

The foxes attack the dragon as if unaffected by the water. Ryzell himself lashes out with his whip sword slashes the blasts of water a part. His eyes are blank and if one looked closely you could see tears had started to trickle from them.

---

Ranmaru leaps of the ground on to the nearest safe spot, "Hurry up Lumyr."

*Lumyr quickly follows Ranmaru to the same spot. What the hell was going on now?*

====

*Winston looks at Olympe and then his own situation.*

Winston: <Dammit....

*Winston starts pulling on his guns.*

Winston: <If I make it out of this... you are going to be the FIRST one I'm dissecting!>

*Winston starts shooting wildly with both guns, hoping to shoot her.*

Outside

~Balmung & Winston~

*Winston manages to shoot a hole in one of Olympe's leg plates and a bullet grazes the ice block Ella is in, cracking it up a tad on the left side. Allina dashes towards Winston while absorbing the whips into her hands and thus pulling him towards her as well. When they reach each other, what little of the whips is left vanishes and her fists fly one into his face and the other into his crotch simultaneously.*

=====
~Lumyr & Ranmaru~

*Parker lands behind them, wielding her bronze rapier, and slashes across them.*

=====
~Ryzell~

*The dragon explodes and Kelphy dives through the air towards Ryzell, shooting more blasts of water at him while jets of water punch at him from the ground.*

Ryzell slashes apart the offending spells in a whirlwind of whip lashes from his whip sword.

""*Youkai Waza: Kyuubi Seireikari" the kitsune flame beast roars as its tails multiply until there is nine of them. The flame foxes multiply as well until the whole room is filled with them before they begin to rapidly encircle the immediate area before lashing out at Kelphy and Rhea. One gets close to Rhea but weirdly enough it stops short and disapates. If she looked she could see Ryzell's left hand was shaking almost as if he was fighting for control. It became painfully clear now that along with the tears running down his cheeks he was NOT in control.

---

Ranmaru spins around and blocks the strike.

---

*Apparition Art: Nine Tailed Spirit Hunting.