Times of Darkness

"Crone has a humor as a dry as an old hag's vagina and he's seen about as much play" Ryzell snarks sly.

"This world has a lot of powerful warriors. What do you need to know? What does Lord Legel need to know Aera?" Ryzell had walked over to Aera and touched her cheek.

"I'd be happy to tell you everything I know about this world which shunned me. This world which I loath. This world which I will crush under my heel" his eyes danced with manic passion.

---

Ranmaru nodded and stepped into the spell.

*Lumyr just stares at Ryzell, watching from the same spot.*

Lumyr: [I hate it when he gets like this... it tends to cause trouble.]

Cecenia joined Ranmaru on the spell and waited anxiously.

Inside

~Aera, Lumyr, Ryzell & Crone~

*Crone grits his teeth, but smirks as Aera slaps Ryzell's hand away. She glares at him.*

Aera: <Never touch me again.>

Crone: <And why are we needed?>

Aera: <Regicide.>

=====
~Balmung & Winston~

*Cecenia and Ranmaru dissolve into black sparkles that sink into the portal. The Gatekeeper turns to Balmung and Winston.*

Gatekeeper: <Go ahead.>

---

Outside

~Ranmaru & Cecenia~

*They appear standing in the middle of a grassy plain under a sunny blue sky. To the North and East is a massive forest and to the West is a large lake with several mountains at the distant other side. There are no signs of people whatsoever.*

Cecenia looked from left to right. "It seems like there's not anyone here," she said.

"Appearances can be deceiving. Stay close, you women are fragile things" Ranmaru says to Cecenia dully.

---

"But that just makes me want to touch you more Aera. Don't tease me, its cruel" Ryzell says with mock melodrama.

Cecenia shot him a look, but remained silent and glanced out over the field again, making sure, once again, that there wasn't anyone there.

*Lumyr stands up and starts to walk over.*

Lumyr: <So, what are these... missions we're supposed to take on?>

*Lumyr stops walking and stands still, looking at Aera. He wasn't really the type to joke around and liked to get straight to the point.*

====

Winston: <Alright, then. Let's go. Follow me, I don't want to get myself killed because of your stupidity.>

*Winston walks forward.*

*Balmung pulls Winston back forcefully off his feet*

Balmung: <I follow no one.>

*Balmung walks into the portal*

Winston: <Idiot... I can tell I'm not going to enjoy being with him.>

*Winston grumbles angrily as he recovers and walks through the portal.*

Inside

~Aera, Lumyr, Ryzell & Crone~

*Aera shoots him a glare and steps away from him, looking at Lumyr.*

Aera: <Like I said, regicide. Leudella has many kingdoms, but only the three largest and most powerful ones are a real military threat. So yeah, each of you is to go to one of those kingdoms and slaughter its royal family.>

Crone: <Sounds easy enough.>

Aera: <...Maybe.>

---

Outside

~Ranmaru & Cecenia~

*They suddenly spot a woman standing near where the woods start, waving at them, that they're quite certain wasn't there a second before. She's a relatively young, elegant woman, with light skin and long dark purplish hair that goes down to her waist. She's wearing a light brown cloak and a brown indian headband with a couple red feathers.*

=====
~Balmung & Winston~

*Stepping on the portal they dissolve into black sparkles that sink into it. They appear standing atop a small mesa overseing a massive orange desert, under a clear and sunny blue sky. There's a small village of stone houses down below.*

*Lumyr goes silent for a second before coming back to reality.*

Lumyr: <Alright, then.>

====

*Without even acknowledging Balmung's presence, Winston draws one of his two pistols and starts shooting a few bullets aimed at the village to wake whoever was over there up.*

Winston: <This place is disgusting. Let's hurry and finish up here.>

"It sounds simple enough but there's more isn't there Aera~" Ryzell cutesied Aera's name with a devilish smile on his face.

---

"Like I said" Ranmaru moved with haste towards the woman who appeared.

*Balmung continues onward toward the village, sword drawn*

Cecenia lagged behind somewhat, still unsure whether she could trust the woman completely.

Inside

~Aera, Lumyr, Ryzell & Crone~

*She glares at Ryzell, clenching her right fist, before turning looking at Lumyr and Crone.*

Aera: <I don't know what to tell you to expect, just be prepared. It shouldn't be too hard for you Generals, but we're talking about the leaders of the strong warriors we've been facing, so it is only natural they're well guarded. Wouldn't be as fun if they didn't make it harder for us. Especially since I'm not the one doing it.>

Crone: <Anything we should know about them?>

Aera: <Nymphe, Caleonis and Vinia are the three most powerful kingdoms. Nymphe is actually relatively small, but it is militarily known for its quality, not quantity. Magic quality.>

Crone: <Interesting...>

Aera: <Let me finish. Caleonis is the second largest, and the most war-oriented kingdom, with zillions of tin men and all that stuff. And then Vinia is the largest. Their soldiers are really more like... speedy ninja "hee-ya!" people. They're also hippie tree-hugging bastards. Any questions, boys?>

*She opens her arms and bows with a broad smile.*

---

Outside

~Ranmaru & Cecenia~

*As Ranmaru's hasting towards the woman, she smirks and raises her arms out of the cloak towards him, each with a relatively small arm-mounted crossbow on it.*

Crossbow Chick: <We're not letting you Helzol rats set foot in the forest!>

*A tall young muscular dude lands in front of Cecenia out of no where, blocking her path after Ranmaru. He has spiky dark blond hair and white skin, and he's bare chested and wearing brown shorts, black boots, and a black bandana covering his eyes like a blindfold. He's carrying a huge sword over his shoulders. He grins to Cecenia.*

Sword Dude: <Goin' anywhere?!>

=====
~Balmung & Winston~

*The village is kind of far, there's no one out, and the houses are made of stone, so the shots don't do much other than help them lose the element of surprise. As they're arriving at the village, a group of five or so men holding farming pitchforks and spades runs out, stopping in front of them. They look like they're running straight out of a lame medieval movie, because there really aren't any farms or anything green around. One of the men steps forward. He's kinda heavy, with a fat black moustache.*

Man: <You're Helzol Palace bastards, aren't you?!>

"That will be all Aera. Well then Crone, Lumyr, how shall we divide up the work? Caleonis sounds like your kind of party Crone and Nymphe is where I hail from. Guess ninja boy should go play ninja in Vinis eh?"

---

Ranmaru grinned wickedly. His swords already drawn as he gets closer and closer to the crossbow wielding chick.

*Lumyr shrugs.*

Lumyr: <It doesn't matter to me, send me wherever.>

====

Winston: <I don't need to answer that.>

*Winston starts shooting his pistol at the group.*

Cecenia let out a muffled gasp. Her hand instinctively flew towards the sword strapped across her back, but as she studied the man closer and noticed his giant sword, she found it hard to believe that any weapon she had on her would be able to take him out.

Even still, she straightened her posture and looked him in his blindfolded eyes, glaring angrily.

Balmung: <Tell me where the warriors are. Now.>

Inside

~Aera, Lumyr, Ryzell & Crone~

Crone: <...Fine.>

Aera: <Great.>

*She hands each of them a coordinate orb, and then points from Crone, to Ryzell and then Lumyr while naming their respective targets.*

Aera: <Caleonis, Nymphe and Vinia. I know it's a lot to ask, but try not to screw up.>

*She waves with both arms and walks off down the tunnel and out to the void.*

---

Outside

~Ranmaru & Cecenia~

*The girl reaches into her pockets, readying three tiny arrows with drill-shaped tips on each of the crossbows, a process she completes in no more than three seconds. She fires all six at Ranmaru.*

Sword Dude: <Why the look? ...And here I was thinking I'd found a new date.>

*He laughs and swings his sword at her right side in a wide arc.*

=====
~Balmung & Winston~

*The villagers don't answer Balmung because Winston's shot them all dead. Everything is silent again, though they feel observed.*

"I'd rather screw your sexy ass" Ryzell grins before waving to the others. "Do try not to die~ Bye Bye~" and vanished into the void to go do villainous stuffs like his mission.

---

Ranmaru doubted the girl even saw what he did next as her arrows crumble before they even reach him. The speed at which he drew and sheathed his swords being beyond what your average human could see. Her crossbows fell in half. "I suggest now being a good time to piss yourself girl."

Cecenia spiraled to the left just in time to escape getting cut in half, but the sword dude managed to nick her in the arm even still. Moving fast, she drew a knife out of each of her sleeves and threw them, aiming one for the guy's thigh, and the other for his throat.

Lumyr: <(I could say the same to you, judging from how eager you are...)>

*Lumyr walked until he was right in front of the void and then turned around.*

Lumyr: <I won't fail you.>

*Lumyr bows and then turns around, disappearing into the void as well.*

====

Winston: <If they would die that easy, they wouldn't know the answer to that to begin with.>

*Winston walks up to one of their corpses and picks it up, putting it over his shoulder.*

Winston: [Hopefully I can bring one of these corpses back with me... I have a few things I could do with this. Hehehehe.]

Inside

~Crone~

*Crone shakes his head upon hearing Ryzell and watches and him and Lumyr leave.*

Crone: <...I wonder if he realizes she'll find out he said that.>

*He also walks out to the void and heads to the Crossroads. The Gatekeeper is a man wearing a black cloak, the hood obscuring all of his face except for two curtains of red hair that go down to his chest from either side of his face in the hood. His voice is heard echoing around rather than sounding directly from the man.*

Gatekeeper: {General Crone, it is not often I see you here.}

Crone: <That, you don't.>

*Crone hands him the red orb, gets it back black, and heads onto the swirling portal.*

---

Outside

~Ranmaru & Cecenia~

*The girl grins and laughs out loud as she fades. He hears her voice from all around him.*

Crossbow Chick: <You're fast. You know who else is fast? Me.>

*Six more tiny drill arrows near him at an amazing speed from all around, forming a perfect circle around him as they close in. The guy sticks the sword into the ground in front of him, shielding himself from the daggers, and then leaps onto the hilt, grinning down at Cecenia.*

Sword Dude: <This... will be entertaining.>