Ch 2: Return to Alcedonia

Alastor is taking Amy to the Ruins of Alcedonia to break the Seal of Memories, but with a little help from the Navis Cartel, Angelorum Lux's battered forces mount a rescue operation.

            As Scott pulled up to them in his hover wheelchair, Richter exclaimed, “Matthews?! What in the hell happened to you?!” Laughing weakly, Scott said, “Long story… Where have you guys been though? Alastor attacked Expeditia! I was worried he might have caused some trouble over here while I was out and…” Suddenly trailing off as he noticed their absence, Scott said, “Hold on, where’s Grey and Amy?” Seeing their grave faces, Scott began to panic as he said, “Oh no, what happened?!” Alexander motioned for him to calm down and said, “We also have a long story, but why don’t we talk on the bridge where I can sit down? Honestly, I should be in a wheelchair as well…” Looking over at the crewmen working on the Audentia, Schmitt said, “I’m gonna make sure they’re doin’ things right! Rufus, go take a gander at the computer system for me. Don’t want this baby fallin outta the air again…” A short while later on the bridge of the Audentia, after discussing all the events that had occurred, Scott muttered, “I should have been there…” Sitting in one of the passenger seats, Alexander shook his head and said, “No Scott. You would have been frozen in time just like Mythra and Richter. Had Alastor not been in a hurry, I don’t want to even think about what he could have done to them while they were unable to defend themselves…” 

Looking out the window at the crewmen finishing up the tune up of the Audentia, feeling somewhat ashamed to have underestimated Gisette’s time controlling abilities, Mythra said, “I don’t understand how that woman could have such a power, or be able to be so selective with it for that matter.” With a shrug of his shoulders, Alexander said, “As Alastor said, she no doubt used the power within the Gate. As for her selectivity, after thinking about it a bit, I believe she might not have made an exception at all. It’s more likely that it was the Nameless One’s essence within Grey and I that allowed us to escape the effects of her spell. Otherwise, Alastor could have had us all at his mercy…” Watching the sun slowly start to set, Richter said, “We know where they’re taking her, so should we really stand around talking about this now?” Turning around to face the others, Mythra crossed her arms and leaned back against the window as she said, “It seems Alastor does not know that Alexander and Serius defeated that Reaper anomaly. If he thinks it’s still around, he probably won’t be rushing in there immediately. We’re also short on manpower with Grey gone, not to mention both Scott and Alexander are injured. We need to take some time to come up with a plan. Hopefully Alexander can heal himself completely by tomorrow, while I do my best with Scott.” Not showing much optimism, Alexander sighed and said, “Healing powers have their limits, as you well know. Still we’re a bit short on options…” An idea popping into his head, Richter said, “Could we request help from the Special Forces, or perhaps the Navis Cartel?” Certain that this was out of the question, Scott simply shook his head and said, “Both are in an uproar about Expeditia. They sent me back with these guys and told me that if things looked dicey they might be able to send some troops when they could, but that could be too late…”

            All in deep thought, the silence was suddenly broken as the door to the bridge opened and Budd, Rufus, and Schmitt stepped in. Grinning widely, Budd proudly said, “My mates have finished their work my friends! This beauty is ready to fly!” Then taking a look around the bridge, the Captain said in an awed tone, “Oooh shiny…” Trying to ignore him, Schmitt said, “Right… Well folks, the Audentia’s back in working order. What’s the plan?” Turning to Scott, Rufus asked, “Shouldn’t we just go back to Expeditia and ask for help?” Sighing, Scott replied, “Like I said, the Special Forces and the Navis Cartel are busy at the moment. With all the crazy events over the past month or so, they’ve already been posting as many soldiers as possible to defend the towns. General West said his team’s priority for the moment was finding any survivors. As for the Navis Cartel, well…” Glancing at Budd, who was looking around the bridge making excited noises, Scott continued, “They have little in the ways of military, as they’re businessmen after all. Since we needed repairs for the ship, they figured they’d just send him…” Agitated by how limited their options were looking, Richter muttered, “So much for fighting Altera Veritas ‘whenever and wherever they appear.’ The leader of Altera Veritas shows himself and the Special Forces won’t send so much as a single division…” Resting his head in his hands, Alexander thought to himself, “Truly we’re lacking the strength to confront Alastor head on, it would be suicide… Even so, after having dealt us such a serious blow, and without knowing we are aware of his destination, surely Alastor cannot possibly expect us to show up and thwart his plans. The element of surprise is on our side.” Glancing over at Budd, who had finished his tour of the bridge and was simply standing there with a goofy grin, a new possibility dawned on him as he thought, “With an airship the size of the Audentia, we would not be able to get very close without being noticed. However, if we had something small enough and silent enough to get us into the upper level of the citadel undetected…” Seeing the wheels turning in his head, Mythra donned a smug grin as she said, “I know that face! You’ve got a plan, don’t you?” Alexander grinned as well as he said, “Captain Budd, I have a little business proposition for you…”

            Ruins of Alcedonia. Friday, June 22, 520NA. It was early in the morning, well before the sun would be rising. Bound with chains and closely guarded by anomalies, Amy followed Alastor as he, Scathe, and Giselle led the way into the ruins of the ancient city of Alcedonia. Behind Amy, more anomalies carried what appeared to be a shard of the Gift of Altu. Looking around, remembering her previous visit to the ruins, Amy thought to herself, “I sure didn’t want to come back here again, especially not like this. Alexander said they killed that wild anomaly… Right?” Shaking her head and trying to divert her thoughts, Amy wondered to herself about the strange voice she’d kept hearing the other day while she was in the dungeon. Listening for it again, she thought, “What was it trying to tell me? Use what shard? I wish it would be more specific, I got the feeling it was important…” Feeling the pull of the chains, she heard Alastor say, “Please quit lagging behind, Ms. Grant.” With a defiant look, Amy stuck her tongue out at him. Suddenly Amy found a long sword blade near her throat, and she saw Giselle had turned and formed her sword. Staring back at Amy with a look of contempt, Giselle said, “You will show Lord Alastor the proper respect…” As Amy trembled, Alastor turned to Giselle and said, “That’s quite enough Giselle. Stay your blade, I need her undamaged…” Giselle let her sword evaporate, saying, “As you wish sir.” Amy heaved a sigh of relief, and moved along as they started walking again. Reaching the door of the citadel, Alastor noticed the door had been destroyed. Pausing for a moment, Alastor said, “Curious… Like the rest of these ruins, this door was made of Deus Calx. What could possibly…?” Realization dawning on him, he turned to Amy, who quickly tried to look innocent, and said, “I see. You’ve been here before, haven’t you Ms. Grant?” Deciding there was no point in hiding it, Amy muttered, “Y-yeah…” Glancing through the open doorway, Alastor said, “Tell me Ms. Grant, wasn’t there a creature here in these ruins much like my anomalies when you last visited?” After a moment Amy simply nodded. Getting to the point of his interrogation, Alastor then asked, “Did you and your friends manage to eliminate it?” Realizing he was concerned about encountering Reaper, Amy simply said, “Why don’t you go see for yourself?” He stared at her coldly, and a chill ran up Amy’s spine as Alastor repeated, “Did you eliminate it Ms. Grant?” Scared, Amy looked away as she quietly replied, “Y-yes…” Satisfied, Alastor turned and began to head into the citadel without another word.

            Soaring through the skies aboard Budd’s ship, despite it being rather cramped with Alexander and the others onboard in addition to Budd’s crew, the Captain remained in quite good spirits. The Captain’s ship was a classic skysail model, a small craft with a simple, single repulsion engine system, a meager cargo hold, and an open deck. An all but obsolete type of airship compared to most models available these days, it actually required a bit more manpower than the Audentia due to the steering sails from which its name was derived, but these together with only a single repulsion engine made it more quiet and maneuverable than a command ship model, which are medium sized ships mainly used as extra command stations to supplement a fleet’s flagship. Standing on the deck giving commands to his crew as Alexander made certain he followed the plan, Budd said to Alexander, “Quite the life sailing the open skies, don’t you think my friend? Aye, at times like this I just want to feel the wind on my face! Oh just look at those stars! They’re so shiny!” In the face of his eccentric behavior, Alexander simply sighed. Staring out at the eastern horizon dreading the sun’s rise, he thought, “I hope we didn’t take too long trying to rest up. We’ve gambled that Alastor would take his time, but he won’t need as much preparation as he did with the Seal of Tears because of the difference in location. The Seal of Tears was beneath a body of water, it would have taken much more effort to reach it with the seal incantation. No doubt he had Douglas use his power over water to assist him. I’m certain he must have arrived in or is at least on his way to Alcedonia by now. He’ll have stationed anomalies as lookouts, and if we don’t make it before the sun rises, we’ll be easy enough to spot in the daylight.” 

Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted as the Captain called out, “Ah, we’re almost there maties! The Ruins of Alcedonia, dead ahead!” Quickly taking command, Alexander said, “Slow speed! I want everything and anything that makes sound turned off if possible!” Beaming, Budd said to his crew, “You heard him mates!” As the ship slowed down, the door to the hold opened and Richter asked, “Are we there?” Turning to face him, Alexander nodded and said, “Tell the others to get ready. It’s going just as planned. Budd will drop us off at the citadel and leave, then land in the forest and wait for my signal. We need to make sure to suppress our auras. Everything depends on catching Alastor off guard.” The airship slowly and quietly sailed over to a terrace extending from the upper area of the citadel. Leaping over the side of the deck, Alexander, Richter, Mythra, and Scott came to land on the terrace. Quietly the airship sailed off, Budd waving farewell to them all cheerily from onboard, and Scott muttered, “I hope that nutcase actually pays attention when we signal him…” Noticing Scott staggering a bit as they walked to the entrance from the terrace into the citadel, Alexander said, “Let’s just hope you can handle this in your condition…” Waving away his concern with a grin, Scott said, “I’m fine! Worse comes to worse I’ll just use my staff as a cane.” With a frazzled look, Richter said, “That’s not very reassuring Matthews…” Scott simply shrugged, and then Mythra sighed and said, “I did the best I could. The healers who fixed him up before weren’t amateurs. Frankly, I think I did a pretty good job considering he’s actually walking.” Adjusting his shades, Alexander said, “Well, that much is true. Enough chit chat though, we have a friend to save!”

            Deep within the lower levels of the citadel, Alastor and his forces had arrived at the reactor room. Looking at the broken reactor, Alastor seemed to be appraising it, and he finally muttered, “Pity. I doubt we can salvage anything. In any case, let’s move on.” Approaching a control panel near the railing around the deep chasm the reactor was suspended in, Alastor pressed a button on it, and to his right a panel of the floor slid aside like a trap door, revealing a winding stairway that went even deeper into the lowest levels of the citadel. Starting to head down the stairs, Alastor paused, feeling as though he sensed something. Noticing this, Giselle asked, “Something wrong sir?” Looking at Amy, Alastor said, “You haven’t lied to me, have you?” With a confused look, Amy slowly shook her head. Becoming lost in thought for a moment, Alastor suddenly summoned up three dark vortexes, and from them appeared three more anomalies. He addressed them, saying, “Search for any sign of the wild humanoid anomaly, as well as anything else troublesome. I do not wish to be disturbed…” Finished, as his anomalies went on the hunt, Alastor proceeded down the staircase with the rest in tow. Meanwhile, Alexander and the others were descending quickly through the citadel. Coming to the bottom of another stairway, Scott recognized the first floor hallway and said, “I think we’ve made it to the first floor! The passage to the dungeon should be right up ahead!” Yet as they all started rushing down the hallway, Alexander suddenly stopped in his tracks and said, “Wait!” Forming his Greatsword of the Seal, Alexander looked around, adding, “We are not alone…” Suddenly from the passage just ahead crept the three anomalies, their rasping breath filling the air as they fixed their glowing red eyes on them. Quickly forming her Elementum Orbis, Mythra stepped in front of the others, saying, “I’ll handle this!” Rushing at the group with fast and unnatural movements, as the anomalies neared, Mythra opened fire just as Alexander said, “NO!”

            Sensing the death of his anomalies just as he heard a faint explosion, Alastor stopped on the stairway. Turning to look at Amy with a cold, empty stare, he said, “You have been lying to me, haven’t you Ms. Grant?” The color drained from Amy’s face, who could only stammer, “W-what?” Continuing down the stairs, Alastor said, “No matter. Giselle, Scathe, keep an eye out for that thing…” Blankly, Scathe said, “Acknowledged.” Nodding obediently, Giselle said, “Yes sir.” As they proceeded, Amy could only wonder what was going on. Then the voice called out again, “Use my shard…” At the same time, back in the first floor hallway, Alexander was struggling to contain his frustration as he looked at the remains of the anomalies. Grasping his head with his hand, he said, “You do realize he can sense their deaths? We’ve just lost the element of surprise thanks to that…” Frustrated as well, Mythra said, “So what should we have done?! Stand here and let them carve us to pieces?!” With a calming gesture, Scott said, “C’mon guys. Who knows? Maybe he didn’t even notice…” Clearly not able to share in his optimism, Richter said, “I believe an explosion that loud would echo through the whole citadel. Still, we have little choice but to keep going. The fact that he sent them out here could mean he was already aware of us anyways…” Moving on, they made their way to the reactor room, Alexander using the massive gathering of EDE from the broken reactor as a guide for his senses. As he peeked inside and looked around, Richter said, “They’re not here…” Straightening his shades, Alexander said, “They must already have reached the seal. The question is, how do we…?” Trailing off as he saw the opening in the floor that lead to the staircase, Alexander walked over to it, muttering, “Hmm, so that’s it.” As they all walked over to where he stood, Scott said, “So what’s our plan of attack?”

            Having reached the seal, the form of which was an enormous raised stone surface inscribed with a great rune circle that glowed faintly, Alastor and his forces gathered before it as the anomalies holding the shard of the Gift of Altu stopped and held it before them. Turning to Amy, Alastor said, “It’s finally time for your seal to be broken, Ms. Grant. Unfortunately for you, there is still some slight advantage to keeping you detained after we’re done here. After all, young Mr. Greyson and his friends all hold you so dear…” He grasped her arm strongly, and Amy struggled as she was dragged over to the shard, shouting, “Hey! What do you think you’re doing to me?!” Forcing the palm of her hand onto the shard, Alastor said to Giselle, “Deactivate the absorption collar.” Withdrawing a remote device from her clothes, Giselle pushed a button and the light on the collar around Amy’s neck faded. For a while Alastor held her hand upon the shard. Finally tossing her aside, he and the anomalies walked up onto the seal, and as they placed the shard upon it, the anomalies moved away and Alastor chanted, “Exite, Ut Memoriae Mille Signaculum Hoc Solo, Quae Ergo Liberari Debeat, Omnes Obliget Tenebrae Super Versa. Nos Aeternam Liberari A Voto, Incohent Novam Vitam.” The ruins shook and a grand violet rune circle appeared around Alastor, the runes within spinning back and forth. Casually Alastor walked out of the rune circle, and just as he stepped off the raised stone surface, the rune circle crystallized and shattered. Turning to face the large eruption of dark energy that began seeping out of the broken seal, Alastor raised a hand and absorbed it. Holding his hand before him and balling it into a fist, Alastor said, “Just one more…” Then without warning, seven colored beams suddenly shot down from above and Giselle, Scathe, and the anomalies disappeared in the explosion. Turning quickly in their direction, Alastor said, “What the-” Breaking off in the middle of his sentence, Alastor quickly stepped aside as, having leapt from one of Richter’s floating crystal walls, Alexander came down on him with a slash of his flame imbued sword.