Ch 10: No One Important

With even Grey and Xanth unable to stand against the Dark Alliance, the side of good seems to have run out of cards to play. Yet there is someone intent on seeing a different ending to this story.

            Suddenly someone called out, “I’m afraid this story will not end the way you’d like it to, Alastor Bastille!” Turning in the direction of the voice, Alastor saw Masquerade hovering above the entrance to the main school building, powerful magical energies emanating from her as she withdrew a rolled up scroll from inside her cloak. Tossing it into the air before her, the scroll unrolled itself and floated in the air as Masquerade chanted, “Volumen Fulmen Phantasia!” The runes upon the scroll glowed bright yellow and two mighty streams of lightning poured out of the scroll at both Alastor and Theraph, while avoiding Grey and Xanth at the same time. Theraph leaped away, but moving like a slithering snake the lightning pursued him, and Theraph was slammed into the side of the dark wall around the area as the lightning carried him through the air, electrifying him all the while. 

Meanwhile Alastor leaped into the air, swerving away from the lightning and flying at Masquerade as he said, “Must someone always make things so difficult?” Withdrawing another scroll, Masquerade unrolled it and channeled magical energies into it, and it quickly folded itself into a paper sword. Blocking Alastor’s scythe with nothing but a paper sword, Masquerade pulled out another scroll and held it up before her, letting gravity unroll it as she chanted, “Cogere Phantasia!” Moving like a constrictor snake, the scroll wound itself around Alastor, binding his arms and using magic to prevent him from flying away. Floating up high and away from Alastor as he struggled against his paper prison, Masquerade withdrew three scrolls and tossed them into the air as she chanted, “Phantasia Scriptorium.” 

As the scrolls floated there, they unrolled themselves in the air and the runes upon them glowed, an orb of arcane magic emerging from each scroll. Flying down to the ground, one orb positioned itself next to Grey and Xanth while another floated over to where Alexander and the others stood frozen. The last orb floated over to where Elizabeth and her students stood watching the battle. Staring at the orb in wonder, Marcyl said, “Oooooh it’s so beautiful!” As she reached out to it, Pyro quickly said, “Hold up! It could be dangerous Marcyl!” Unconcerned, Elizabeth said, “No need to worry. I feel certain she is not an enemy.” Suddenly the arcane orb expanded, encompassing them all within itself like a shell, and Johnny fearfully exclaimed, “You sure?! This doesn’t exactly look friendly to me!” At the same time, the orb over by Alexander and the others began expanding as well, and Mythra exclaimed, “An unrestricted arcane teleportation field?! Who the hell cast such a ridiculously advanced spell?!” Staring up at Masquerade, Alexander replied, “Good question. Another, more important question comes to mind though. Where will it be teleporting us to?” Then the arcane teleportation field began to glow brighter, and Amy nervously said, “I think we’re about to find out…”

            Watching as the teleportation fields spirited all his prey away, Alastor turned his head to look at Masquerade as she called out to him, “They’re far out of your grasp now.” Clenching his fists as he glared at her for a moment, Alastor regained his composure and closed his eyes. A powerful wind began swirling around him, and Masquerade quickly floated back further as a swirling storm of wind erupted around Alastor, who called out, “You have accomplished nothing. Soon I will begin the Merge, even without that girl and her stolen powers. All of this mistaken existence will fall before me, and when the time comes I will destroy Mr. Greyson and his friends…” Wind blades dancing within the cyclone, as it faded at last, Masquerade’s binding scroll had been cut to ribbons. Floating up level with Masquerade and raising a hand in the air, Alastor gathered EDE as he added, “Just as I’m about to destroy you.”

Quickly reaching into her cloak, as Masquerade withdrew her hand, she held a heavy scroll with two wooden rollers on both ends. The ends were tied together with string, and untying the string on the heavy scroll, Masquerade began to chant, “Vigil Fati, Cupitor Phantasia, Magistrum Venenatis, Nunc Invocare Virtutem Omnia…” Unleashing his gathered EDE, Alastor formed sword after corrupted sword, all of them spreading out around him as they hung there in wait, suspended by the wind itself. Once he had a good number of swords, he began creating dark vortexes around himself, and as Alastor poured the swords into them, he called out, “Ladies first…” Flinging one end of the scroll into the air before her, Masquerade let it unroll as she held onto the other end. Instead of falling downwards as it unrolled, the scroll seemed to wind upwards through the air, the runes upon it glowing with multicolored light as it spiraled around Masquerade, who finished chanting, “…Aenean Phantasia Circuli!” 

Forming all around Masquerade, rune circle upon rune circle appeared. Some simple, some grand, they ranged from almost every color and held the power of everything from the seven elements to the power of arcane magic. Seeing the kaleidoscope of rune circles that now covered the skies around Masquerade, with a look of great surprise Alastor quickly opened more dark vortexes as he thought, “Who or what in the world is she?!” Gesturing at Alastor with her paper sword, Masquerade shouted, “Unlimited Fantasy Circles!” Beginning to pour out of the rune circles, a storm of volatile orbs and beams made of all forms of magical energy tore across the skies just as Alastor gestured at her with his hand as well, shouting, “Blades of the Stormy Night Sky!” Flying forth to meet the magic orbs, Alastor’s swords raced across the distance as orbs of Corrupted EDE poured out of the dark vortexes to join the attack as well. Meeting in the air, their attacks erupted in countless streams of explosions.

            Dodging and using his air pressure barrier to avoid being struck by magic orbs or beams that broke through his attack, Alastor opened more dark vortexes and formed more swords as the magic barrage of Masquerade’s Unlimited Fantasy Circles kept pouring out, overwhelming him. His attacks unable to penetrate the wall of oncoming magic, at last Alastor muttered, “Enough of this!” Slipping through a dark vortex to come out behind Masquerade and her line of fire, Alastor raised his scythe to strike. Turning and floating away just in time, Alastor’s scythe only sliced through air as Masquerade evaded, but as Alastor waved his hand at her, blades of wind shot out at her. Deflecting them with her paper sword, Masquerade missed one and it struck her mask, shattering it and drawing a shallow wound on her cheek. Her identity revealed at last, Masquerade was in fact Claire, the Seeker. 

Removing her hood, Claire said, “I should have expected that. I was careless.” Channeling EDE into his scythe, Alastor said, “Before I kill you, who or what are you to possess such power?” Raising her hand, Claire said, “No one important. A traveler in life who has long overstayed her welcome, just like you.” As a magic portal appeared behind Claire, Alastor quickly lunged forth to strike, but Claire disappeared into the portal, coming out the other end of it behind him and raising her paper sword at him as she chanted, “Phantasia Flagro!” The runes on the scroll the paper sword was formed of glowed, and a beam of combined magical energies shot from the paper blade’s tip. Having been fired in such close range, as Alastor turned to see the beam heading straight for him, it was too late to avoid or use his air pressure barrier. Burning its way through Alastor’s chest, the beam carved a large hole straight through him.

            Falling out of the sky to land flat on his back on the ground, Alastor lay there in agony for a moment. Blood poured from his wound, and quickly Alastor used his powers of regeneration to stop the bleeding, though it would take time to fill in the missing area that had been disintegrated by Claire’s attack. As Claire floated down next to him, he turned to glare at her as he said, “You may have won this insignificant battle, but you cannot stop me! It doesn’t matter what you do, I cannot die…” With a sad smile, Claire replied, “I know. You lost your body to the hunger of the Nameless One, and in order to prevent him from controlling your mind, you rejected your own heart. Even freed from the seal in which Angelorum Lux locked you away, you wandered aimlessly, lost in confusion, only to lose your heart completely and fall prey to the darkness that remained. You’re little more than a construct, held together by Corrupted EDE. A being filled with unbridled hatred and fear, driven by the echoes of the past that linger in the emptiness within you, your soul unable to pass to the afterlife.” 

Turning away from her to look up at the sky, Alastor said, “Don’t look at me like that. I don’t want your pity. What need do I have for a heart anyways? To be some weak, sentimental fool like my nephew? By bending the Nameless One to my will, I used his power to recreate my body. I will not lose this one the same way, not as long as I keep him sealed within a vessel. As long as I have the power of darkness, I have no need for such crutches.” Opening a portal, Claire turned to go. Glancing back at him one last time, she said, “Grey’s heart may be strong enough to bring endless possibilities to this world, but I truly wonder whether there can be any salvation for a heartless being. For your sake, I hope so…” With that she passed through the portal and disappeared. Slowly sitting up despite the pain, Alastor placed a hand over the hole in his chest and muttered, “She disintegrated the missing part completely. I’ll have to start from scratch.” Glancing over where Claire had passed through her portal, he thought, “She certainly has talent at stating the obvious. There is no salvation for me. I exist now only to quell this unrelenting desire within me, this desire to see the world as it should be… A perfect world free from the illogical hearts within us that fear the differences in others…”

            Walking through the war torn streets of Lorem Academy City, the contingent of the Xandaris Elite Guard that had been sent in response to the distress call arrived too late to do much more than clean up the mess. They were led by Captain Gwen Bloodrayne, a young halman woman with medium length red hair and green eyes who wore red and white armor with green gemstones studded in the chest plate and arm plates. She also carried a white shield and a saber with a red blade. Looking around at the bodies of fallen civilians, she thought, “What is this? Wasn’t this supposed to be a city of learning? Who could have done this? The demonfolk of Effretia?” Suddenly, she heard one of her troops muttering, “I heard most of the citizens here were energists and magic users. Musta been one hell of a battle.” 

Another soldier replied, “Don’t give em too much credit. They may have been energists and magic users, but this is a city for half-breeds and half-breed lovers. I wouldn’t expect much from them. If you ask me, someone did us a favor by-” Turning about, Captain Gwen said, “Is this really the time to speak about matters of race or class? We came here to honor our people’s pact with Lord Gabriel! We were supposed to protect these people!” The second soldier said, “Well yeah, but it doesn’t mean we gotta like em, right Captain?” Glancing solemnly at a fallen citizen’s corpse, Captain Gwen said, “No, you don’t… Still, it’s dishonorable to speak ill of the dead. Talking like that will only cause problems with the surviving citizens. Please just focus on the task before us. Spread out and search for survivors, but don’t let your guard down.” 

Walking off on her own as her soldiers began to split up, Captain Gwen thought, “As the daughter of a noble family, I hold pride in my blood and status as well, but even so… Was it not in Lord Gabriel’s teachings that those of noble lineage are to set an example and treat others with kindness and fairness? Does that not apply to all beings? I know I’ve lived a sheltered life until a short while ago, I know people are saying that Angelorum Lux has forsaken us, but I just don’t see a difference between these people and myself!” Walking up the road to the academy campus and making her way through the plaza, as Captain Gwen arrived at the site of the battle between Altera Veritas’ forces and Angelorum Lux, she saw Alastor and Malum talking, Malum saying, “Well then Alastor, shall we head to the Vinculus?” As she overheard, Gwen thought, “Alastor? He can’t be THE Alastor?!” Holding his hand over his chest wound, Alastor replied, “Yes. I can rest after we’ve begun the Merge. It won’t take long to install Vas Initio. As for Mr. Greyson and Angelorum Lux, their escape is unfortunate, but at least with Count Ferid’s influence we can hinder their movements here in Gaia. Next time, I will not let them go so easily…” As they both disappeared into dark vortexes, Gwen frantically thought to herself, “Merge? Ferid? Has the Dark Crusade returned?! And all the talk about Angelorum Lux… We’ve been deceived!”

            Appearing in a forest clearing, Grey and Xanth arrived to see Alexander’s group and Elizabeth’s group had been transported there also. Having somehow been freed from the paralyzing fear, Alexander and the others were able to move again. In the center of the clearing, there was a great tower, rising as high as five stories. Cylindrical in shape, it was made from stone bricks and had a wooden roof. Having been staring at it with the others, as Grey and Xanth arrived, Amy turned to face them. Staring at Grey for a moment, fighting back tears of joy, she rushed over to him and threw her arms around him. Standing there in shock as she held him, Grey heard her say, “I was so worried! For a while… I thought you were really dead…” Bursting into his mind, images and sounds from Grey’s past bombarded all his senses. As he cried out and clutched his head, Amy let go of him, and with a concerned expression she said, “Grey? What’s wrong?” Everyone else gathered in concern, but then Alexander said, “Give them space…” As Alexander approached, Grey started to teeter over and Amy barely caught him. 

As Grey seemed to lose consciousness, Amy laid him out on the ground, and turning to Alexander she said, “Is he hurt?!” Looking at Grey out cold on the ground, Alexander said, “Don’t you recall what the red haired student told us before?” Calling out from the group gathered around them, Pyro said, “Hey, I’ve got a name you know! It’s Pyro!” With a snort, Johnny said, “Who cares about that right now?!” As they started to bicker, Elizabeth sternly said, “Enough, both of you! This is important.” Pyro still glared at Johnny, while Alexander simply said, “It’s quite alright Headmistress.” Unable to contain her concern, Marcyl said, “Hey, hey, Mr. Alexander! Is he gonna be ok?! Should I try healing him?!” Adjusting his shades, Alexander replied, “He has minor injuries of course, but that’s not the problem. He’s lost his memory, remember?” Turning to Amy, he continued, “Now that he’s met with Amy, who was by far the person most important to him before he lost his memory, it’s likely his memories are starting to return all at once.” 

Raising an eyebrow, Richter said, “Is something wrong with that?” Pumping a fist in the air, with a big grin Fox said, “Yeah, that’s a good thing isn’t it?! Can’t have him forgetting his old buddy Fox now, can we?” Sighing, Mythra muttered, “Idiots…” Glancing sadly at Grey as he laid there, Alexander said, “Of course we need to restore his memory, but… With all that Grey’s been through in the past, remembering it all may not be a pleasant experience for him. He’ll be facing the burden of who he is, unable to look away from or suppress any of it. No matter how far he’s come, this won’t be easy...” Suddenly the door of the tower in the middle of the clearing opened, and an old man with long white hair and a long white beard wearing a studded belt around his head like a blindfold stepped out. Dressed in black clothes, he had belts strapped around his chest and along his arms, and a black cloak was draped over his right shoulder. Calling out to them, the old man said, “Ah, I thought I’d heard voices. So you’ve arrived! Good, good! Let’s get him to a bed and let the young sage guide him back to us. Claire should be returning… Well, sooner or later…”

Author's Note

Originally titled "The Seeker". As obvious as it might have been, it would be kind of blatant to do that after giving her a secret identity...