Chapter 29) Rashe'm Sleeps
While Al sat out on the deck of the ship telling Orrin his story, Rashe'm remained in the room with Derreck. Liza was still out looking for the ship's doctor. If it had been up to Rashe'm, they wouldn't even have taken the ship. He wasn't particularly fond of being out on the water himself. Despite how manic Derreck was being, Rashe'm sympathized with him there. He would have rather been laying in his bed in the other room, but Liza had asked him for the favor of watching her brother until she returned, and he had accepted.
"You'd better hurry up, Liza... I'm getting sleepy" Rashe'm thought to himself. It was unusually warm in the room, and the warmth, the rocking of the ship, and the tedious task made perfect conditions to do so, but Rashe'm couldn't understand why the room was so warm. He tried to keep his mind focused on something so that he wouldn't nod off just yet, but as soon as he looked at Derreck, sleep hit him like a brick.
~~~~~
When Rashe'm's head fell forward to his chest, Derreck knew his spell worked. He got out from beneath his sheets and took the wet cloth and threw it against the wall, forcefully. He made sure the stone was still in his pocket, and after reassurance, he walked towards Rashe'm. "Sweet dreams, fool! I guess you'd have to be here to tell me darling sister that you failed, but you'll still be asleep. Now... to take a little souveneir..." Derreck reached for Rashe'm's pocket, where he would be sure to find the Red-Eye Dragoon Spirit. As his hand neared the pocket, the blue stone in his own pocket began to respond, and it began radiating energy. Rashe'm's stone followed suit to the blue stone, and Rashe'm began stirring. Derreck immediately retreated, and Rashe'm's pocket stopped glowing as soon as it had started.
"I'd better be careful," thought Derreck, "If the stone wakes him up, my plans are through." After a few moments of consideration, "I'll just have to leave this fool his Dragoon Spirit. I can't take it without waking him... Oh well, once I find the kid, he won't be able to stop me." Derreck turned and left the room, leaving Rashe'm asleep. Now all he had to do was find Orrin and take the other two stones.
~~~~~
Rashe'm drifted into the deepest sleep of his life. A deep blackness enveloped him, and he seemed to float in an unreal stillness. He had forgotten that he had ever been watching Derreck, even the fact that Derreck existed. Almost everything he had experienced on the journey vanished. The drifting upon nothingness remained for what seemed forever, but then Rashe'm began to fall.
The falling was ever eternal, making a single minute take a lifetime. But then the falling slowed, and soon Rashe'm felt that he was on his feet. It was still dark, but now he could feel that it was hot and dry, wherever he was. He discovered where he was instantly. The desert. His raiding ground. In fact, he was on his way to the house he had picked out to hit next, robbing it clean and taking profits from everything to pay off the loanshark.
The plan ran over in his head, again and again. He slunk in every shadow, stalking along the quiet desert streets towards the house. He hadn't felt this alive since.... since.... he couldn't remember when. Something had happened to make him lose the alive feeling he felt now, but he couldn't recall exactly what. The only thing he could concentrate on was the house which now sat in front of him.
Rashe'm looked left and right, making sure no one could see him, then put his sights back on the house. There were no movements from inside. There shouldn't have been anyway, the couple was gone. That's why he picked out the house in the first place. Everything was going according to plan, and he continued towards the house. He got to the door and took out a small knife, one that could easily fit into locks. As he began to undo the lock, an odd thought occurred to him, "I've done this before, haven't I?"
He stopped immediately. Of course he hadn't... this is the first time he's tried to break into this house... but the feeling of opening the lock felt so familiar... too ethereal. Slowly, he continued on the door, trying to block out the thought of deja vu. With a click, the door unlocked. He grabbed the doorknob with a gloved hand, and as he turned, the thought came back, "I HAVE done this before... this is..."
~~~~~
Liza entered the room, the doctor following behind her. She noticed that there was a certain strangeness about the room, yet she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She called out "Derreck, I have brought the doct..." Her eyes went to the empty bed, and she stopped dead in her tracks. Her mind began to race, "Why wasn't Derreck in the bed? How could her brother be gone? Where would he be?" She snapped out of her minor trance, and the next priority her mind went to was Rashe'm. How could Rashe'm let Derreck wander off? She found him sleeping in a chair next to the wall, and she marched with haste to inquire why Derreck was gone. She had gone into such a frenzy, she completely forgot about the ship's physician, who had gone to sit on the bed groggily.
She put her hands on Rashe'm's shoulders to try and shake him awake. But he didn't even stir. The only movement was from his eyelids. They were darting rapidly. As Liza's eyes widened with shock, she realized what was wrong with the room. Someone had cast a spell. Not just any spell, a very high level one. Confused, Liza turned back around to look at the bed, and she saw that the doctor had fallen asleep on it. She was convinced it had been a spell, there could be no other explaination. As she approached the bed, the faint traces of magic became more potent. "Oh no... Derreck cast it?" Liza said to herself. She couldn't figure out a counter-action spell, as she didn't know what exactly Derreck had cast.
Frustrated, she left the room and sat against the wall in the hallway, to get away from the spell-cast room. She had to figure out a way to wake Rashe'm, to see if he knew what happened. She couldn't think of anything that would be strong enough to break the room's spell. Eventually, she became lost in thought, drifting through various memories. More and more memories came in and out of her mind, from her childhood to the current journey. Her thoughts stopped as they reached the picture of the statue of Miranda she had seen not too long ago. "What was so special about that statue? What does it mean?" Liza inquired to herself.
She then remembered a discussion Al had with them while they were still in the forest. Liza noted, "He was telling us about what happened in Deningrad, was he not?" Her mind ran through the story, until she found what she was looking for. The hand of the statue of Miranda had shattered to reveal the Silver-white Dragoon Spirit, which had healed Rashe'm completely. That was it! The Silver-White Dragoon Spirit! Recalling that Orrin held onto the extra stones they possessed, she snapped out of her trance and ran off for the deck to find Orrin.
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Chapter 30) Return of the Healing Light
Rashe'm opened the door to the house, and light flooded out of it. The light became so extreme, he couldn't see. It encased him just as the darkness had before. Once the light dimmed, he realized that he had been strapped to a chair. His ankles and wrists had been strapped down so that he couldn't move. Even his head was held against the chair. He remained motionless, reorienting his senses, until he realized what was happening. "They're gonna cut my ear off again!" Rashe'm didn't want to experince that again. He had reformed, hadn't he? He hadn't done anything now to deserve getting his ear cut off again. He became frantic. He had to get out, it was imparitive. The uniformed men would soon be there to mutilate him. Rashe'm had to stop for a second. "Again? This happened before?" he thought.
As he began to struggle again, it felt as if the room was shrinking, growing tighter and compressing the air inside, making it hard to breathe. Rashe'm's strength began to leave him, and the door to the compressing room opened. He knew that the five men were coming to punish him for something he had already paid for. Indeed, the five men came in, but they all had the same face, a very familiar face that Rashe'm couldn't identify. He still struggled as much as he could, until it seemed that gravity pulled him down so hard he could barely move. All five men in the room laughed maniacally with a laugh he somehow recognized. One of the men in the back grabbed the knife that Rashe'm had used to pick the lock.
~~~~~
Orrin sat, listening intently to Al's tale. He had never realized so mach happened to his friend. Al continued, "The next mornin' when I woke up, everythin' was still, and..." Al noticed Liza running towards them from the cabins and stopped immediatly. Orrin noticed that Al stopped, and he turned his head to see what was going on. Liza's face was filled with both features of concern and haste. She stopped right before the two, keeling over and putting her hands on her knees, attempting to catch her breath. Al stood up to make sure Liza didn't fall over or hurt herself.
After a few seconds of gasping, Liza was finally able to eke out, "Ra- Rashe'm... in trouble... the white stone... Something has happened. We need to go now." Al bolted for the quarters building, as did Orrin, after standing up, and Liza soon followed them back. When Al arrived at the room, Liza had just entered the long hall, and she shouted for him to wait. Of course, he didn't want to wait, something had happened to his closest friend, but since he figured that Liza knew what was happening, he didn't move.
Liza and Orrin caught up to Al, and Liza instructed what to do as best as she could. "Orrin, get the white stone. Rashe'm has been put under a spell, and I believe the stone can undo the damage. Walk into the room with the stone out ahead of you, so the spell does not afflict you." Orrin did as he was told, taking the white stone out of his pocket and entering the room with it afore. Immediatly, he could tell something was up with the room, because the white stone began glowing softly. Orrin first saw the man asleep on the bed. Instead of asking Liza why he was in the room, he went directly to Rashe'm. He was only a few feet away from him, the stone started to glow brighter, and before he knew it, the same kind of light was coming from somewhere on Rashe'm.
~~~~~
Panic tore at the chair-bound Rashe'm. At the same time, confusion was rendering him nearly senseless. He was having memories of what he was now going through. But that couldn't be possible if he was now experiencing the events. The way the room shrank wasn't helping the panic ebb either. He thrashed in his chair, even though he could barely move. The five men with the same face all gathered towards their victim, snickering. They began to talk amongst themselves, "Aww... poor baby... he doesn't want to take his medicine like a Big Boy..." "I say we gut him too. I'm thinking FISH tonight!" Other taunts continued.
Amid the five men, the one with the knife stood directly before Rashe'm. He held up a hand, and the other five silenced. "Oh Rashe'm..., settle down there, boy. I'm the doctor. I've come to make you aaaaall better." The words sounded almost sweet to Rashe'm, and slowly, he calmed down. "That's a good boy.... almost.... Do you know why you're here, Rashe'm?" The familiarity of the voice panged Rashe'm for a moment, and he shook his head. "You've been a bad boy, Rashe'm. You're very sick, and you were being a bad boy. I know how to make you a good boy again." Despite the sweetness in the voice, Rashe'm began to feel sickened by it. "How?" was all Rashe'm managed to make out. His voice had become higher pitched, and he noticed that the men had become taller. He had become a child again. "How did Mr. Doctor do that?" he thought with a child's mindset.
The man chuckled. "How am I going to make you a good boy? You want to know how?" Child-Rashe'm nodded. "Ok, I'll tell you. First, I'm going to cut off each and every one of your fingers. There's bad blood in them, they're making you a bad boy. And then I'm going to cut off your toes. They're just as bad. And I've got one thing saved for last." Curiosity gripped Child-Rashe'm, "What? What?", almost taking no notice of the gruesome events the man had just described. The room suddenly began to ease, and the man said, "Why, I'm going to kill you."
"Kill me? I thought you were going to make me a good boy!" protested child-Rashe'm. "Oh, I am. You know what they say... The only good boy... is a DEAD BOY!" The man thrust the knife at child-Rashe'm. As the knife inched closer, everything in the room slowed dramatically to a halt. The tip of the knife was against his tiny stomach, and a bead of blood formed. Everything remained still for a few moments, until Rashe'm realized who those faces belonged to. The room exploded in light.
~~~~~
Rashe'm sat bolt upright and screamed, causing Orrin to lose his balance and fall backwards. Liza and Al burst into the room to calm Rashe'm down. Rashe'm sat panting heavily, and the two stood beside him on each side. Liza talked to him first, "Rashe'm? Are you alright? How are you feeling?" At the sound of LIza's non-babying voice, he drastically calmed. "How am I feeling?.... heh... I'm gonna kill that b*****d. THAT'S how I feel." Liza was taken back by his statement, "You know what he did?" Rashe'm took one last huff and stood up, "Not quite. I just know that he did SOMETHING...." Orrin got back to his feet and headed to the man on the bed. By the time he got there, the man finally stirred awake. As confusion gripped the man, he did the first thing he thought of, collecting his belongings and bolting.
The first thing Al did after Rashe'm stood and all was sure that he was fine was grabbing and bearhugging his friend. "I love ya too, big guy... now let go. This is awkward..." Al retreated as Rashe'm wished. Orrin was about to place the white stone back in his pocket, but Rashe'm told him to keep it out. "This thing's saved me twice. I at least want a better look at it." Orrin gave him the stone, and the shining returned. As Rashe'm held one it up in his hand, he brought his own shining red stone to compare. "I guess they react to each other, eh?" Orrin had no idea, but Al stated, "That's what legends say. And those two in particular." Rashe'm continued comparing the two stones, and he started to say "Now, I wonder where that as-" when a crewsman barged into the room.
Frantically, he reported, "There's somebody out on the deck. And he's callin' you lot out."
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Chapter 31) Rough Waters
In light of the insane events seeming to happen all at once, Rashe'm slipped the white stone into his pocket. Rashe'm and Al dashed to their rooms for their weapons, and Orrin took the opportunity to get his spear ready. Al and Rashe'm returned and the four ran from the room. Orrin was burning with a question though, "Do you think it's Derreck?" The first to reply was Rashe'm, "Who else could it be? And I'm ready to kill that fu-" Al cut him off. "I know yer pissed off, Rashe'm, but watch yer language." No one said anything afterward.
The long hallway began to feel endless. But once they stepped out onto the deck, they noticed that the sky had taken a darker cast, possibly even ready to storm. A few crewsman ran by off to the left, so the four's best guess was that Derreck, or whoever it was, was to their right. Orrin quickly remembered just how big the ship was when they still hadn't reached wherever the trouble was coming from. A looming figure soon became apparent. They all expected to see Derreck, with a terrible smirk on his face and his brilliant platinum hair making him seem more malicious. It was not Derreck though. At the end of the deck stood a man in a faded purple cloak. Orrin's eyes widened when he realized that he had bumped into the man earlier.
It wasn't long before they realized that the man in the purple cloak wasn't the only one there. There was a crewman standing off to the side. The only thing odd with the scene was the crewman's blank face, as well as the fresh blood on his shirt. The cloaked man began to chuckle. "Oh, my... I never imagined such Great Heroes would let two people die. You took so long getting here, I became bored." They all knew then that he was the one who called them out, and that he was bad news. Al was the first to reply to the cloaked man, "Why have ya called us out?" The cloaked man stated, "I know I called you three out, but I don't know who the girly is... But all I know is that one of you is the Dragoon of Fire."
Al retorted, "And how did ya come across this information?" The cloaked man, goading them, "I wish I could tell you, it would be a lot of fun... although, I can't. Now, shall we get to business?" When no one replied, he continued, "Now, I have a few scenarios for the lot of you. Either you tell me who the Dragoon is, so that we may dispose of you without any more casualties, or you don't, and everyone on this ship dies." The group was silent, still staring at the man before them. Rashe'm was about to give himself up, to fight or surrender, or however the situation continued, but Orrin spoke up, "What do you me 'WE'? Is there someone else? I doubt you and that crewman can kill EVERYONE on this ship."
"Well now, don't we have a bright young lad here?" On cue, the ship began to shake violently. As the four struggled to keep their balance, but the cloaked man and the crewman stood rigid. As the shaking continued, the sound of a gigantic crash of water sounded, and next to the ship rose another man, this one in blue robes. And he was standing on what seemed like a rounded platform. The blue robed man said, "Tiras, it seems you've managed to not mess anything up. I'm impressed. Now, if you don't mind me saying, are you quite finished controlling that poor man's mind?" Another shock went through the four. "Mind control?" Orrin whispered to Liza. "Maybe that's what's happening to Derreck, do you think so?" Liza told him, "I can not be certain."
With a snap of the cloaked man's right hand, the crewman crumpled to the floor. He spoke to the man in blue, "Melchia, which do you think is the Dragoon? It doesn't seem they'll give him up so easily." Melchia didn't spend much time thinking, "Let's see what the Kraken thinks." With another rumble of the ship, the supposed platform rose higher until a giant red eye became visible. Melchia jumped down onto the deck of the ship. The giant eye darted back and forth among the four. Tiras spoke up, "I think the Kraken thinks they ALL look tasty," and both men laughed with sinister smiles.
"Aw, hell," yelled Rashe'm, "First we get ambushed by a giant snake, and now we're being ambushed by a Sea Monster? What the hell?" Sarcastically, Melchia retorted, "Oh my, it's as if someone's done all this on purpose..." And both men laughed again. None of the four dared move, not knowing what these two men were capable of. Once the men had gotten their laughs, the blue robed man said, "Well, Kraken, it's not much, but DINNER is served." The beast rose fully from the water, revealing both of its massive eyes, and the rest of the face as well. The thing's mouth was detectable from the giant saliva-dripping fangs on the front of its face. With a mighty roar, the Kraken reared for its attack. Orrin, Rashe'm, and Al all drew their weapons.
Before the Kraken could make its charge at the meal before it, a streak from nowhere sliced right through it. The roar of hunger turned into a scream of pain, and the two men on the deck turned around in bewilderment. The streak returned, making another slice in the great beast's sides. As the monster fell back into the water, the men did something peculiar. They lifted their hands into the air, immidatly illuminating. In less than a second, both men disappeared in a flash of white light. Where the men had been moments before, the streak returned and sliced at the wooden deck. Once more, the streak flew by, except it stopped in front of the four, revealing Derreck, wearing the Blue Dragoon armor.
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Chapter 32) The True Terror of a Brother
The armor Derreck wore was full-bodied, like when Rashe'm was a Dragoon, not like when Liza was. The blue of the armor was also a darker hue, with a look of torture running along the surface. After Derreck made himself known to the group, he had shown no signs of his possibly faked illness. Relief flooded Liza, as she figured that her brother had been under the control of the man named Tiras, but was now free. She ran towards the hovering figure of her brother. Rashe'm and Al tried to hold her back, but she ran past anyway. She couldn't understand why they'd keep her from her brother, who was now better.
Except, he wasn't. They saw what she didn't. Derreck was weilding one of the energy weapons of his creation, a long and slender sword, and he was getting ready to slice. Liza continued towards her brother, all sounds blocked out except her heartbeat. As she came closer, she opened her arms to embrace her brother in a hug. Just over a yard from her brother, she stopped. She didn't know what made her stop, so she turned quickly around to see that Orrin was shouting. Actually, all three were shouting, but Orrin's voice was the only she heard. And then she felt it.
The blade wasn't long enough to slice through her, as Derreck had intended, but it merely grazed her back. She immediately fell to her knees and passed out. Derreck laughed menacingly before saying, "Dear, dear Liza... Just how STUPID are you? I was hoping to do this the easy way, but I guess I'll have to go with plan B." In a flash, Derreck charged at Orrin. Al and Rashe'm had no time to respond, so in that flash, Orrin also disappeared among the three. When they were able to recollect what had happened, they agreed that Rashe'm should go take care of Liza, and Al would search for Orrin. Al didn't have to look for Orrin, though, because as soon as Rashe'm had pulled Liza back to the group, Derreck returned holding an unconscious Orrin in one hand, and in the other, the purple stone.
Rashe'm was immediately tending to Liza, taking out both his red stone and the white stone. As soon as Derreck spotted the white stone, he sneered, "So, that's where that one went off to. I was going to get a two-for-one deal off of this little s**t, but I only found this one on him." He dropped Orrin onto the deck. "I would have drowned him in the ocean, but he poses no threat." Every word Derreck spoke made Al's blood boil. He wanted to put all his energy in telling Derreck off for what he was doing, but he knew that it would be pointless. Instead, he readied his axe to lunge at the maniac, but Rashe'm stopped him.
"Look, Liza's healed enough for now, but I'm the only one able to fight him. I'm the only one with a Dragoon Spirit." Al sighed heavily, "Then get rid of him, and quick." Rashe'm replaced the white stone in his pocket, and with a flash, became the Red-Eye Dragoon. Continuing to taunt, Derreck mocked, "Oh, ready to fight now, are we? Well, I should say that you'll be in Hell before you can kill me." Derreck held up the hand with the stone of the Darkness Dragoon. To Al's and Rashe'm's amazement, the stone began shining. Derrecks armor shivered, and then began to transform, melding, twisting in sickening patterns and ways, growing, thickening. It was a ghastly sight, unnatural as well. As the light dimmed, the monstrous form that Derreck beheld was horrid. The two armors had melded together, forming sickening swirls of purple and blue, creating black in some areas.
Rashe'm made no move, except he smirked. "This should be an interesting fight." Derreck's face formed in a grimace to match his abomination armor, "Don't get cocky, you'll never win." With another smirk, "We'll just have to see about that..." and Rashe'm charged at Derreck. He was quickly parried by Derreck, and was thrown half the boat's length before he righted himself in the air. Derreck, believing Rashe'm was out of the way, turned his attentions to Liza again. "I do believe your time has come, Liza.... Time to DIE!" Rashe'm rushed back, and went from head-first to a thrusting kick. He made impact with Derreck before he could reach Liza, and was forced out over the water.
"Good man, Rashe'm," noted Al, "just be careful." Rashe'm zoomed off after Derreck to fight where no one would be jeapordized. Al took the opportunity Rashe'm gave him and collected Orrin. Now all Al could do was wait. He couldn't help fight against Derreck, he couldn't force Liza and Orrin awake. He just had to wait. So he watched Rashe'm and Derreck, hoping that nothing terrible happened. Rashe'm was madly dodging the flurry of spells that Derreck directed at him. He couldn't get very close to Derreck because Derreck would send out some sort of pulse if he ever got near enough to attack. The battle was looking fruitless.
The battle raged for nearly ten minutes when Al noticed Orrin stirring. In another minute, Orrin opened his eyes, saying, "What's happening, Al? I don't remember what happened..." Without saying anything, Al pointed out to where Rashe'm and Derreck were flying and battling. Orrin stared at the scene for some time before he turned to Al and asked, "Why did he do this? And HOW did he do this?" Al sighed, "I'm in yer boat in wonderin' why. All I can figure is it's somethin' to do with Liza. Now, how, I think he was able to pull that fancy little trick off because of that "Energy Manipulatin'" he told us about. It's lucky that Rashe'm had the white stone... or Derreck might've used it too, and then we'd probably all be dead now." Neither said any more, and they returned their attentions to the battle progressing.
Rashe'm was quickly growing tired, and he was showing it too. He was lagging in his flight, and the sword clashes pushed him further and further back. He charged at Derreck once more, and their swords clashed again. As the swords grinded in the test of who could push whom back first, Derreck goaded, "Awww, is poow widdew Washe'm tirewd-tirewd?" Rashe'm growled, "You're going to choke on those words, you b*****d!" Derreck sneered and replied, "Oh, really now? I guess if that's going to happen, I shouldn't do THIS!" At point blank range, Derreck cast another spell, hitting Rashe'm square in the chest. This time, Rashe'm didn't get blasted back. He just fell. And he fell and he fell, until Al and Orrin heard a faint splash.
Without any interference, Derreck returned to the ship and immediately grabbed Al and Orrin by the necks. As they struggled to breath, they also grabbed the warped armor on his arms to try and dislodge themselves, to no avail. Derreck laughed his twisted laugh and said, "Who do you think I should kill first? Who? Liza? I can have my fun with her after you two. She's out cold and she's too weak to do anything anyway. So, WHO shall I kill first?" To tease them, Derreck turned their muffled grunts into a conversation. He pulled Orrin, who was still dangling and thrashing, closer to him and after "listening", he said, "What? I should kill Al first? Oh, my, that's so heartless of you, Orrin. I would have imagined that you would have given yourself up first..." And then he did the same with Al. "Kill Orrin first?? You're just as heartless, you fat fu-"
Derreck stopped cold when he felt a gloved hand close on top of his head. It was impossible! Who else could be on the ship that would be able to even touch him? Liza was out cold, Al and Orrin remained in his grasps, and Rashe'm had to be dead! His curiosity was eased when he heard Rashe'm mutter, "Time to eat your words, s**t head." Derreck felt extreme heat coming from the gloved hand. He was still too much in shock to do anything. In an attempt to at least try something, he let go of Al and Orrin, letting them fall to the deck of the ship. Rashe'm took Derreck higher up, away from the others, before unleashing his own spell. "Flaaaaame..... SHOT"
The forms of Rashe'm and Derreck disappeared in a cloud of smoke and embers. Except for the falling ashes and embers, and Al and Orrin gasping for breath, everything else became still. Even the roaring sea seemed to quiet. What seemed like an eternity passed before anything happened. A figure began to descend from the smoke cloud. Inch by inch, he creeped from the cloud, until a discernable piece of red leg armor became visible. Rashe'm descended holding the limp body of Derreck in his arms. Each of Rashe'm's wing beats dispersed more and more of the cloud from around him. As soon as he touched the deck of the ship, a flash enveloped him and the Dragoon armor disappeared. Both he and Derreck fell to the floor of the ship.
Al and Orrin rushed over to Rashe'm. Al, getting there first, checked to see if Rashe'm was still alive. It hadn't looked like Rashe'm was breathing at all. When he felt a pulse, he sighed with relief. "I'm glad yer safe, my friend." Orrin arrived to Rashe'm's other side, and watched the motionless body. When Rashe'm spoke, it startled Al into almost falling backwards. "You know, you could have just asked me if I was ok, Al..." When Al got back up, he laughed as heartily as he could and wrapped his arms around Rashe'm. "I'm so happy, I could kiss ya." Rashe'm merely muttered, "Please don't."
"Heh... sorry. Just an expression." laughed Al. Everything turned to awkward silence again, until Rashe'm said, "Al, you should go check to see if s**t head is dead or not." Al nodded, and went over to Derreck, checking for a pulse. "He's still alive... but from the looks of it, he'll be out for a long time."
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Chapter 33) A New Strategy
The gathering chamber of the Soanites remained dim and empty, that is, until a bright flash illuminated the room. As the light disipated, three men stood, one in a faded purple cloak, and the other two in robes, one blue and the other stark white. The one in the white spoke first, "I don't know what you two messed up, but I would seriously hate to be you two right now." And he turned and started away. The man in the cloak shouted after him, "Yeah, well it's not like you did anything, Visall!" The blue robed man put his hand on the cloaked man's shoulder, "We'll just have to go face whatever Master Irving has in store for us, Tiras... there's just no way around it." Tiras slumped his shoulders and sighed, "I guess you're right, Malchia." They turned around and headed the opposite way of the man in the white robe.
They reached the end of a hall, where Irving's room was, and they knocked their secret code to let him know it was a council elder. From the other side of the door, they heard, "Just a second." A few footsteps later, the door was opening inward, and Irving began, "What matters do the coun-..." He stopped as he saw the two before him. In the blink of an eye, his entire expression changed, and in a deep, menacing voice, "What happened?"
~~~~~
Eight men filed into the secret meeting room, assuming their places around the crescent table. Irving was the last to enter, so he slammed the door shut, and everyone else suddenly knew that the recent plan had fallen through. When Irving sat down, everything stayed silent. It remained so, and the tension began to build in the room, until Irving said, "Our plan to stop the Dragoon and group was unsuccessful..." Glances from around the table landed on Malchia and Tiras. "And seeing as such," continued Irving, "we must go with our secondary mission right away." The elders around the table began murmuring to each other, save for Tiras and Malchia. The murmuring continued until the magenta clad elder spoke up, "So, we're going to put the world at war at last?" Irving chuckled, "You could put it that way, dear Rett... I find that more of an understatement...."
"The world... will be engulfed in chaos."
All murmuring stopped. Irving continued, "I'm going to need each of your gifts and strengths to pull it off, though. And I have a very fine plan laid out. But I suppose that I must count on one of you here the most. Your role will be the most crucial..." He turned to the man second from the right. "Visall, your teleportation has been extremely valuable to us. And now, you're going to have to show for it. If there is no evidence of sabotage between the countries, then the attacks will be merely taken as mere incidents. We must get each country to HATE each other. And just as well, you must get each group to their destinations. I assure, if you succeed, your rewards will be great." Turning to the rest of the table, "Just as all your efforts will be rewarded."
The entire table was in agreement. Irving continued laying out his plan, turning to the man third from the right. "Senjit, your illusions will be put to use out in the main centers of the Death Frontier. You will take a platoon with you, and you will make an illusion that the armies of Deningrad are attacking them. That rift would certainly create an uproar." Senjit nodded, and Irving turned to the man at the right end of the table. "Hektor. You will go to Serdio. First go to Bale, and attack the city with the men you have. In fact, I believe I'll send Borod with you," he turned to the man at the left end, "would you accompany Hektor?" A nod of confirmation, and Irving continued, "Once the city is defenseless, alter everyone's memories to show that it was the armies of Kazas, the old Black Capital. And then go to Kazas and do the same. The revival of the Serdian War sounds nice..."
"And the final part of the plan is for you, Rett," he turned to the center, "as you can created Electro-static fields. You will go to the major cities of Tiberoa and Mille Seseau, and destroy every power generator you can find." Rett nodded. "Now, do you suppose this can be done within the next two days?" Everyone involved in the plan nodded. "If we're lucky, we can get this set of wars started before our little 'friends' make it to Bale. Are we all agreed then? Then I wish you all the best of luck, and may Soa watch you and help you succeed. We are adjourned."
The men began to file out of the room just as they had to come in. Only Tiras and Malchia stayed behind. Irving finally noticed and approached them, "Oh? Is there something else you wish to discuss with me privately?" Tiras and Malchia looked at each other, and Malchia said, "We weren't mentioned in any part of the plan. Was that intentional?" Irving scoffed before turning around, "You two have done enough."
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Chapter 34) Sailor's Delight
As soon as Al and Orrin were able to stand, Al went off to find the crewmen, tell them what happened, and get help putting the unconscious in a bed somewhere. Orrin waited with the the three on the floor. Rashe'm had passed out shortly after saying "Please don't". With nothing to do and no one to talk to, he looked out over the waters of the sea. They had calmed considerably, just like the sky. Shards of the setting sun were poking through clouds as well, revealing a brilliant red sky, from what he could see.
Not ten minutes later, Al came back with a few of the ship's crew, and they brought four stretchers. Orrin couldn't understand why there'd be four, but as one of the stretchers went to the crumpled crewman, he understood. He had forgotten about him. As the motionless bodies were collected, the crew headed back for the main structure of the ship, back to the cabins. Orrin followed them, walking next to one of the crew. The crewman tried to start small talk, "What a day, huh?" Orrin replied, "You don't know the half of it." Chuckling, the crewman said, "True. I guess you guys were the ones who actually saw what happened... At least tomorrow's going to be a beautiful day."
"What makes you say that?" asked Orrin. Replying, the crewman stated, "Red sky in morning, sailor take warning. Red sky at night, sailor's delight." Orrin had spent his life in the desert, so he had never heard anything like that before. "Is that from something?" he asked. "Perhaps...," said the crewman, "but I know it because it's a saying passed down to every sailor of the high seas. And in my time, it hasn't been wrong yet. So I stick to it." Orrin was actually pretty impressed by it. But he was still going to see for himself if the proverb held any truth.
Orrin had to replace his belongings in the smaller room with Al, because the bigger room was being used for the treatment of the other three. Because of the events that had recently taken place, dinner became delayed, so Orrin and Al had time to kill before the meal. Al layed on his bed and Orrin on what was Rashe'm's. He felt that it was too quiet in the room, so he asked Al, "Are they going to heal Derreck as well?" Nonemotively, Al said, "No. I told them that it was safer fer the crew if he remained unconscious. So, they're keepin' him on a drug induced coma until he can be delivered back ta the Wingly Forest.... I can't imagine how hard this is gonna be fer Liza..." Orrin turned his head from Al to the ceiling, "Yeah... me neither."
~~~~~
The next morning, Al and Orrin were woken up by Rashe'm barging into the room and shrieking like a madman. Once both were sitting up in their beds, Rashe'm stopped and smirked. "What'dya do that fer?" Al groggily questioned. "You two lazy bums need to get off your butts and go for a run with me." Al merely made a disgruntled face, "Screw yerself, I'm sleepin' in." And he promptly fell back asleep. Orrin, on the other hand, said, "I'm up... I might as well." Rashe'm beamed, "Atta boy!" and he jogged off to the end of the hall. Orrin laughed and dressed himself.
Once Orrin got outside, he looked to the sky, and it was just as the crewman had said, a beautiful morning. It was the most beautiful morning he'd ever seen. "I gotta see if he's got any more of those sayings... if I can find him again..." he thought to himself. Rashe'm came running by as Orrin gazed at the morning sky. "What took you so long, ya slowpoke?" Orrin replied, "I had to get dressed... unless you'd have rather seen me in my underwear..." Rashe'm said, "Touche!"
As the morning wore on, Orrin and Rashe'm made more and more laps around the deck of the ship. They'd been running long enough to need a break, so they sat against a wall. Rashe'm brought out a waterskin and took a drink, then offered it to Orrin. After Orrin took a few large gulps, he handed the waterskin back and said, "You know, after yesterday, I would have figured you would be still in bed right now." Rashe'm, after taking another swig, said, "Yeah... well, so did I. But even the ship doctor was baffled when I got up this morning." He pulled out the white stone, "I guess this did the trick... and speaking of which, I still haven't returned this, have I?" He handed it to Orrin, and he said, "Now you have." Orrin pocketed it with other two stones, the purple and blue one that he reclaimed after the fight. Since Liza was still asleep, he couldn't exactly give it back to her yet.
They ran for a half-hour more before returning to their rooms. To not disturb Liza and Derreck, the crew had opened another room for Rashe'm. When Orrin entered his room, Al was just waking up, again. "G'mornin' Orrin." Then, sarcastically, he added, "How was your run?" Orrin felt like returning the sarcasm, so he said, "It was nice. You should try it one of these days. It could do wonders for you." They both laughed at that. Al then said, "Well, almost time fer breakfast... Last night's meal was pretty good... but I bet I could do better." With another laugh, Al got up out of bed to get ready for the day.
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Chapter 35) Derreck Unfurled
The next morning, Liza came too. She didn't immediately sit up, because she felt the average feeling of disorientation after days of unconsciousness. First, she looked around the room she was in, which was funny, because she last remembered being out on the deck of a ship. Her gaze swept the rest of the room until her sight was on Derreck, laying in the bed next to her. Relief fell upon her at the sight, but it was soon replaced by fear. That was what made Liza bolt upright.
The Doctor jumped from the reaction of Liza's awakening. He wasn't expecting her to rouse for at least another day, after the shock of the battle, but after seeing Rashe'm healed the morning after, he wasn't too surprised. He went to her side to ensure to her that everything was fine, that he just needed to do one last checkup before he let her out of bed. As he gave her a last checkup, Liza kept glancing over at Derreck. Once the Doctor took notice of it, he said, "I hear he is your brother, correct?" Liza nodded as she stuck out her tongue and said "Ahh..." The Doctor continued, "He's had a right nasty hit to the head. Don't know what happened, but it looks like whatever you were fighting gave him a pounding." Liza became a little sullen and said, "Uh, yeah... sure." She hadn't know all what happened either, but she knew better than that Doctor.
"We were told to keep your brother under a drug induced coma for awhile. Perhaps his injuries were pretty severe to call for that." the Doctor confided to Liza. As he brought his stethoscope down from her chest, he said, "Well, I'd say you're 100% A-OK." As Liza rose from the bed, she did a half-bow to the Doctor saying, "Thank you, sir." before leaving the room. In the hallway, she saw what looked like two people leaving out the door at the end of the hall. The room next door was still open, Liza remembered that it was Al's and Rashe'm's room. She slowly ducked her head around the corner to see if anyone was still in the room.
~~~~~
Al and Rashe'm had just left for breakfast. Orrin was still getting ready in the room, after another morning of Rashe'm's running drills. Still a tad sore, he replaced his sweaty shirt for a fresh one. The ship's laundering service was quite spectacular, he noted. When Orrin finally got the shirt over his head, his heart almost jumped out of his chest. The first thing he saw was Liza's platinum hair, causing him to flashback to Derrick's malicious, snarled grin. A small gasp came from Liza as Orrin fell back onto the bed. Once the disorientation passed, Orrin sat back up to find Liza fully in the room now. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Orrin, I did not mean to startle you..." she retorted. Orrin rubbed his head "It's fine, Liza... I'm just.... wait. Did you just use a contraction?" Liza found herself as shocked as Orrin, "I... I guess I did..."
"I didn't know you were awake, Liza", Orrin said to change the subject. "Yes, I just woke up... But Derreck's still asleep...", she replied. Orrin was already aware of the situation, but felt it would be rude to point that out. Liza continued, "It seems the crew doesn't really know what happened that night.... but neither do I...." Orrin pat next to himself on the bed to let Liza know she could sit down. "Well, what we found out is that it started out with the Soanites trying to attack the ship. Whether it's a blessing or a curse, Derreck stopped them before turning on us. He got Rashe'm pretty good, but I guess he got too confident, because he didn't notice Rashe'm coming from behind.... You know.... I don't get Rashe'm... it's like that Dragoon Spirit's put a fire inside of him that won't go out. I mean, the next morning he was up AND RUNNING..." When Orrin looked over at Liza, he noticed that she now looked more sullen, and she said, "I'm sorry, Orrin. This is all my fault. It has to be...."
Orrin, trying to comfort her, said "Why do you say that? That can't be true..." Liza was not convinced, "But it is true. I should have seen it while Derreck and I were growing up. In our many years of schooling, I always performed better than him, but I refused to acknowledge it, because of our mental link. I don't know how he did it, but he hid the jealousy from me." She began crying "I wish he had just said something. Maybe none of this would have happened." Orrin carefully put his arm around her back to try to calm her, minding her back injury, "You can't say that, Liza.... what happened happened. There's no changing it, and there's no use in regretting it. The best we can do is move on." Liza stiffened and stopped crying. Slowly, she said "That's what..... Derreck used to tell me...."
Liza paused for a few moments before saying , "You really do act like Derreck used to." Orrin wasn't sure if he would have preferred to be compared to her brother, but Liza coninued "You have his vitality. You have his optimism.... Whoever Derreck is now.... he used to be a completely different person." After a few more moments passed, she said "I'd like to thank you Orrin." He tried to figure out what she was talking about, so he asked, "Why thank me?" Liza replied, "For being you. I feel like I can talk to you. I feel like I can trust you, the way I trusted my brother. I feel like you'll always be there for me."
This caught Orrin a little off guard, and he started to blush. "Sure thing," he managed to get out. "There's something I want you to know, Orrin." continued Liza, "There IS one thing I remember from that night. When I saw Derreck, I was relieved, and I ran for him. I became deaf to all sounds. I can't explain it. But I heard YOU. That's why I turned around..." After a few more moments of silence, Orrin said "Let's go get breakfast... We can surprise Al and Rashe'm." Liza slowly turned to Orrin and smiled, "That sounds great..."
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Continued in part six...................
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