Water Six

            He had been on this world for two month and nothing had happened as he waited around patiently.  It was a fairly peaceful world and he spent most of his time on the rocks watching the ocean while playing his guitar.  This one evening as the sun was going down he felt a disturbance, like a space distortion, and it was very similar to his own dimensional holes.  Looking down toward the beach he found one of the boys from the nearby village and a hole was forming under him.

            The energy from the hole blow up around him, he faded away and hole began to close after him.  Deciding to follow Gleen jumped through, then on the other side he found a world surprisingly similar to the last.  The boy didn’t seem to notice anything and returned to the village, only to find that no one there recognized him.  His mother, even his house, was gone and his oldest friends just pointed him to cliffs at the edge of the village.  There he found his mother’s tombstone and beside it was another that had his own name on it.

            Before he could make any sense of what was going on he was approached by soldiers who had come to retrieve him, by force if necessary.  From nowhere a young girl jumped to his side wielding a bow as it looked like she was going to take them all on herself.  Gleen also decided to join him and gave him a staff to fight with so he would have a weapon.  Now with the odds even the soldier didn’t stand a chance as the fight began and quickly retreated.

            “You okey, Sage?” Gleen asked once they were gone.

            “I think so.  What’s going on?”

            “We’re on a world almost identical to our world, except you appear to have died with your mother in birth on this world, which would explains why no one knows you here.” Gleen said turning to the girl.  “Who are you?”

            “The name’s Kiy.” She told them.

            “Thanks for the help.”

            “It was nothing.  I just don’t like seeing those guys gang up on people.  If you don’t got anywhere to go you could always come with me.  The general who leads those soldiers has allied himself with Panther, an enemy of mine, and I plan to pay him a visit.”

            “It would help us to learn why they were after you.” Gleen said turning in the direction the soldiers ran.  “We should head back to the village and get some rest before we go.”

            The next morning they headed north to the city, passing through the small village that separated the two.  Near the end of the village they found two of the three soldiers from before appearing to want a rematch.  Once Gleen scared them off they went to the city to get some supplies before heading for the fort.  While there they came across a traveling magician name Guie also trying to get into the fort, but he couldn’t do it alone and they eventually decided to go together.  They all had a more likely chance of survival going together and the more power to fight off the soldiers if they were caught.

            It was decided they would scale up the cliff behind the fort and get in from there, hoping not to be noticed as they entered.  Once they managed to get inside, they quickly borrowed some uniforms and began to look around.  The place was a very well planned stronghold and the soldiers were well disciplined as they were trained equally as well.  It reminded Gleen so much of the other Triangle Guardians and his home, making him long for home more than usual.  Putting it aside he returned his concentration on the matter at hand, finding the one Kiy called Panther and finding why they wanted Sage.

            With luck, good or back, they managed to wonder into the general’s office where he and a humanoid panther appeared to have been waiting for them.  They shed the uniforms now that they had been discovered and they would useless from this point.  The panther seemed to puzzle Gleen, he had seen demi-humans in other worlds.  Yet this one’s movements and actions were far too human, it made him wonder what he really was under the appearance.

            “Your day has come Panther.” Kiy told him.

            “Panther I presume.” Gleen said stepping between them.  “Tell me why you are after Sage.”

            “He is the key.” Panther told him.  “Now come with me to the roof.”

            “What are we up here for?” Kiy demanded once on the roof.

            “We fight.  That room was too cramp.”

            The fight was extremely brutal as Panther was very skill, beyond what even Gleen have him credit for.  Even against the four of them without much effect he has holding them all off, no matter what they did.  Before either side could finish it soldiers poured onto the roof and in the commotion a hidden soldier shot an arrow which hit Kiy in the side.  Stumbling backwards she fell over the edge and was followed by the others who jumped after her.

            They were found by a boatman and were taken down river to the nearest village.  There the doctor determined the arrow had been poisoned and they could do nothing to save her.  Gleen remained behind to try to cure the poison while the others went to look for Panther and learn what he was up to.  The poison had gone beyond the help of the common medicines the doctor practiced and Gleen know the only way to save her was to use his own life force as the catalyst.

            He had everyone leave then took Kiy into his arms feeding his own life force into her to help her cure the poison.  There were many risks doing them, the strain could easily kill them both or if Kiy didn’t accept his help.  Even worse of the poison was stronger than the both of them, he would die right alongside her.  The triangle power seemed to have no effect as he had only his life force alone to combat this sickness.

            By the time the others got back both of them lay on the bed, the poison gone, but both were exhausted.  When they were gone they had managed to follow Panther to the Ancient Fort, which used to be a temple that fell to rune long before it was turned into a fort.  With Kiy up and ready, she wanted some payback for that little nick Panther had given her.  Setting out they found the soldiers were still there and began working their way to the top.

            They arrived to find Panther alone and waiting for them like before as he was ready for a fight.  The fight was also like last time, but this time it seemed to Gleen as if Panther was holding back for some reason.  During the fight he sensed another distortion and Panther began to behave oddly as if all the skills he had once were now gone.  With the Panther fell easily, then was shot through the heart by Kiy with the encouragement Sage.

            Then in the blink of an eye Sage turned on them, then floated upward and disappeared as he took Kiy with him.  Oddly though Gleen could still sense Sage in the room until Panther’s body also disappeared.  Picking up Guie he headed back to the beach where it all began, using the hole to get to the other side only to have it close on them.  True to the feeling Sage appeared through the hole in the body of Panther, in the last battle he apparently stole Sage’s body.  Whatever key Sage represented was now in the hands of Panther and they could no longer get to the other side.

            With little else to do they went back to the village, Sage’s mother was surprisingly calm as they explained what had happen.  She then hinted for them to head to the northern part of the ocean, as if she knew something but couldn’t say.  Saying their farewells they took her hint only to find an abandoned island with technology too advanced for this world.  In the middle of it all a single tower stood, from it emitted an energy wave that seemed to be canceling out the hole between the worlds.

            Making their way through the forsaken city they found many of the defense units were still functional after all this time.  Gleen was familiar with some of it from his time on other worlds, but most of it was new to him.  They defended their programmed areas well, most attacks they saw coming and prepared for before they made contact.  The tower was even worse as the strongest units protected it, but they had to continue if they were to stop Panther and get Kiy back.

            At the top they found a young man waiting claiming to be a friend of Sage’s father and tells them how Sage became the key, as Panther put it.  During Sage’s birth there were problems just as in the other world, but in this one Sage didn’t die.  He and Sage’s father took his mother here and were somehow able to save them, but at a price.  The result of Sage being saved caused the world to split into two at that moment and his father to be transformed into a demi-human, a panther.

            The only way that the hole between the worlds would open again was if they defeated him as he used the energies of the tower to close it.  This was for the guilt he felt for not stopping Panther when he had the chance all those years ago.  Sage was distressed with the knowledge that Panther was once his father, but he was still determined to stop him and get Kiy back.  Whatever his plan was now Sage would stop him even if it went killing him and his own body if that was what it took.

            “You are just as determined as your father was as a kid.  Panther intends to use fate to control the people of both worlds.  You became the key when he used fate to save you, the price was his form.”  He told them.  “Due to the guilt and friendship to your father, if you want to continue you’ll have to fight me first.”

            He was powerful using all the energies of the tower to try to stop them, yet through luck or his will, they defeated him.  Now defeated his ties to the tower were finally broken and he was finally able to leave the place the held his soul trapped for so long.  With the last of his power he transported them all back to the beach just as the entire island began to blow apart and sink into the water.  With the tower gone they found the hole between the worlds once again was open for them to travel to the other world.

            With no leads they went back to the fort to see if they could find were Panther went to while they were gone.  At the fort they found it was being guarded by troops of the neighboring country and when they started asking about Panther they were attacked.  During the fight they brought out their strongest weapon Bycon, which turned out to be a cyborg made from the technology from the abandoned city.  He was quite strong, but once defeated he helped them escape from the soldiers and joined them.  They learned he found in the forst that the false Sage had gone to the ancient fort on the other world.

            Returning once again to their home world they went to meet Panther at the ancient fort of their world.  At the entrance they found him waiting for them with Kiy by his side under some kind of spell.  Panther left them to Kiy to deal with while he went into the fort to complete his task sure Kiy could do the job he gave her.  Stepping forward Gleen stopped right in front of Kiy beganning to emit his life force.  All he could do was hope she would recognize it from when he cured the poison, sure enough Kiy began to wobble the fogged over look in her eyes cleared.

            She was a bit hesitant to believe what they told her when she came to, but trusted Gleen’s words.  So forth they ventured onto this world’s ancient fort, only to find it was more dangerous than the other one.  Bycon proved to be a good ally, able to disarm many of the traps and defensive units.  At the top they found it to be nearly identical to the last battle at the ancient fort of the other world.

            This time the battle was different, with the aid of Bycon and the strength they gained through the battles with him up to then.  As Panther was beaten back, both he and Sage found themselves each trapped in a beam of light.  Each began to flash between the others image and when it faded they were in their rightful place.  With the key now lost to him Panther taunted them as he fled to a place called the Sea of Gara.  Unfortunately no one knew where that was, except Gleen when realization hit him from something he saw before.  While at the abandoned city of the other world he noticed the name Gara on one of the buildings.

            Arriving at the island of this world they found that it was protected by a barrier hiding what was inside.  Bycon was unable to deactivate it due to it was magic based, but Gleen was able to open a hole long enough for them to get in through the use of his guitar.  On the other side they found it deserted, but still functional, just like the other one had been and made their way to the tower.  Finding all the machines were still functional on the way as well as many others that were not at the other tower.

            Bycon was unable to deactivate them due to the fact something incredibly powerful was controlling them directly.  He was able to inform them that whatever it was it wasn’t fully awake and Panther was heading its way.  They advanced up the levels as fast as they could, but the defense units were at every turn to stop them.  When they finally reached the upper room they were too late as they found Panther standing in a pillar of white light.

            “Fate, hear me.  I’ve failed.” Panther called out.  “Take me back and reawaken.”

            “No!” Gleen yelled when Panther vanished and was replaced by the upper half of a humanoid female machine.

            “What is that?” Kiy asked taking a step back.

            “It the Fate Machine.” Gleen told them.  “A machine capable of controlling and altering the fate of others.  Panther is a part of it now, we have to stop it.”

            As Bycon had said earlier it was very powerful and to make matters worse it went into self-destruct mode with enough power to destroy this world.  Since his technology was the exact opposite of the Fate Machine’s, Bycon was extremely helpful with this fight.  He was able to lower its shield so they could fight it directly, still it seemed to have the upper hand.  The timer continued to go down as the fight went on and it became obvious they were going to lose.

            “Triangle of Light give me help!” Gleen called out and if answering him the Master Sword materialized before him.  “This is the end.  Fate Slash!”

            As he swung the sword it seemed as if all time stood still as it had when he witnessed Casa do this.  It only returned to normal when the blade struck the Fate Machine, the true fate siding with him.  The Fate Machine let out a loud mechanical squeal as it began to spark and finally die.  Within the rubble they found Panther still alive, but on the edge of death.

            “I’m sorry son to have put you through this, but I could see no other way to stop it.” Panther said chocking up blood.  “You must stop it for me before it is too late.”

            “Stop what?” Sage asked trying to comfort him.

            “The Shadow King.  He is between the two worlds trying to devour both.  He came when I caused the irregularity by saving you.” He said handing Sage an egg shaped gem.  “Use this as the hole between the worlds, I believe in your power to stop the mistake I created.”

            “Father.”

            “You must leave, this place will be destroyed soon.  You have to live.  Now go!” Panther said using the last of his energy to transport them away as the tower exploded.

            “Father!” Sage yelled as they landed on the shore.

            “What do you think we should do?” Guie asked Gleen when he strapped the Master Sword to his back.

            “It’s up to Sage.” Gleen said turning to Sage.  “What do you plan to do?”

            “Finish what my father started.” Sage told them.  “Let’s go.”

            “I’m with you all the way.” Gleen said following.

            “Same here.” Guie told them.

            “Me too.”
            “I will accompany you as well.” Bycon informed them.

            When they arrived at the beach both the egg gem and the hole began to resonate a deep purple as it changed to a new destination.  On the other side was what appeared to be a black abyss, Gleen could immediately feel the shadow’s presence, like when he had fought it was Casa and the princess.  It must have recognized him because it lashed out at him the moment he got there, ignoring the others as it tried to kill only him.  The others looked around aimlessly trying to figure out where it was, while Bycon scanned the area and fired after locking into something.  This only lessened the attacks on Gleen, the shadow beginning to concentrate on the other as well now.

            Doing so caused it to pull itself together and reveal exactly where it was to the others, who now had a clear target to hit.  It was just like the last time he had fought the shadow, but this time two pieces of the Triangle of Light weren’t here and this worried him.  Even with all the power he had gained since the last time he had seen it, he still seemed nowhere near as strong as it was.  The others were doing fine at the moment, which would only give him a moment to do something.  Holding the Master Sword out, he powered up as he charged the Soul Blast into the blade and charged.  Making a large gash in the shadow he jumped back before being stabbed by the shadow and realized this wouldn’t work either.

            “I can help you win this.” Panther said stepping from the shadows.  “I can make you stronger, but you must give up the Master Sword.  It is the last think I can do to help you and my son.”

            “Do it.” Gleen said sending the Master Sword away.

            Letting out a yell Panther’s body began to glow as it became a long black armband on Gleen’s left arm and extended a three foot black blade.  As Panther had said it did increase his power significantly as he lashed out at the shadow again.  Holding the new blade forward he charged the blade, then throw an energy slash finding it amplified everything channeled through it.  This blade seemed to hurt it even more then the Master Sword was previously and the effects were more lasting.

            “You’re finished shadow.” Gleen said holding out the blade.  “Forever Zero!”

            The shadow was then hit by a slash so powerful that it instantly dispersed, but Gleen could sense he didn’t defeat it, merely blow it away again.  With the shadow gone the place between the worlds began to crumble and in a brilliant flash of light they found themselves back on the beach.  Looking around they couldn’t tell which of the worlds they were on and the hole no longer was active.  Only two of them being able to see what the others couldn’t figure out what had just happen.

            “What’s going on?” Sage asked looking around after he couldn’t find the hole.

            “It appears the two worlds were merged back together, while we are the only ones who can notice or remember the two.” Gleen told them.  “We won.”

            “I’m going to go check on my mom.” Sage said running home.

            “I guess I’ll head back to the city.” Guie said walking away.

            “You should head home too Kiy, your mother is alive in this world.” Gleen said causing her to run off.  “Keep an eye on Sage for me.”
            “I will.” She yelled back and was gone.

            “Why did you have her do that?” Bycon asked puzzled.

            “There is a good chance those two will get together.” Gleen said opening a small compartment on his armband revealing a small golden sphere.  “It’s the core of the Fate Machine, it allows me to see a little of the multiple possibilities.”

            “What should I do now?”

            “You could always come with me.” Gleen suggested.  “It’s been a while since I had a partner.”

            “Very well.”

            “I’ll show you that way.” He said jumping through the dimensional hole followed by his new partner.