Tides of Twilight - Chapter 12: InsightA Chapter by Jobyn It's now or never. Check items. $: 1,500G Currency. "Did you know? Nael is the star of his own story now!" Check it out Here The highest voted Segments from the previous chapter have affected the battle and will now be put into play. Laevaten lets out a deafening wail, causing you to press your hands to your ears and nearly shut your eyes trying to resist the loud ringing in your head. You: Ugh... I never thought... Sound could hurt! Laevaten dives in your direction as it dazes you with its wail. But rather than try to throw itself at you, it tackles the frozen lake bed hard, causing another "bump" wave to come tumbling towards you. Laevaten uses Frozen Impact! (Area of Effect) You take 152 points of damage. (209/400HP) You: Aah! You are knocked off your feet and thrown back against the dome's frozen wall. You: (Frustrated, shoving yourself back up) I don't know how many more of this thing's attacks I can take... If I don't do something soon, I'll be killed! (You begin shooting at the dome's icy wall) Let me out! Laevaten's movements slow as it begins to glide towards the center of the dome, where the large, circular section of missing ice that the creature had emerged from was. It slowly spread its angelic fins outward, remaining afloat while gathering the water from the hole under it. Just before the water touched a pair of cerulean crystals Laevaten had protruding from where its fins previously laid, it dissipated into a glowing energy which the crystals absorbed. Convincing yourself that the celestial creature was now vulnerable, you point your gun away from the dome's frozen walls and aim down the sights at its left crystal. You aim and shoot the Left Crystal 3 times! Critical hit! Laevaten takes 80 points of damage! (????/????HP)
Critical hit! Laevaten takes 82 points of damage! (????/????HP)
Laevaten takes 63 points of damage! (????/????HP) Laevaten wails in pain as a thin crack forms along the Left Crystal's surface. It appears disoriented by the fracture. It drops itself into the water below and rolls over, exposing its underside. Laevaten is stunned! Attack now! You: (Squinting your eyes) Its underside isn't protected...! Now is my chance! (Drawing your sword and hurrying to Laevaten) How's this for a change! You use the slippery surface of the ice to your advantage and perform a balanced flurry of circular slashes with your sword, finishing off the combo with an entire magazine of bullets. Critical hits! Laevaten takes a total of 303 points of damage! (????/????HP)
You have learned the Special Attack: Whirl Win Description: Deliver a whirlwind of blows to your enemy with your sword and then finish it off with a buncha' lead to the face. You: I think I'm getting better at this...! Agitated, Laevaten rolls itself fiercely back onto its underside and blasts you with a shock wave of water. It doesn't do much but force you away from its perimeter. You see its cerulean crystals briefly turn red as it envelops its fins around them once more, becoming more aggressive. But rather than retaliate by attacking you once again, Laevaten turns its attention towards Mel and begins gliding towards her. You: Oh, no...! Mel! I almost forgot about her! (Running after the celestial creature, waving your arms at it) Hey! Look over here! (Shooting at its body, though causing no damage) Laevaten simply ignores you and continues making its way towards the frozen feline hybrid. However, it stops midway and promptly swoops straight down towards the frozen surface of the lake. It bashes itself straight up against the ice, intentionally gliding back upward before repeating it all. It takes you a moment, but once you see the cracks forming across the surface of the rock solid ice, you realize that this thing is trying to submerge the frozen female. Had Mel not been wedged against an arch in the dome's wall, Laevaten could have simply tackled and shattered her to pieces. Still, it obviously knew other ways to get at her... You: Not good! This is not good! (Looking around, panicking) If Mel sinks underwater, there's no way I'll be able to pull her out! Not with her frozen like that... What am I going to do now? Unable to contemplate your options much longer, you make a sprint for the diving whale while shooting at it, trying to pull as much attention towards you as possible. But watching your bullets simply bounce off its solid body armor, you decide to change tactics and pull out your sword instead. Timing it just right, you wait for the moment the whale hits the surface of the lake once more before leaping towards it and driving the tip of your sword right under its Left Fin. You can tell it grazes the crystal below, because it wails it gives a brief wail and twitches upon contact. Angered by your attack, it swerves its wide tail with great might and slams it against you. Laevaten uses Backfin Blow! You are knocked back severely and take 200 points of damage. (9/400HP) Your heartbeat begins to accelerate. You experience tunnel vision. You are now Stunned. Feeling as if your body is just about ready to shatter as you hit the dome's wall hard this time, you fall half-conscious to the icy floor. Dazed, you can just barely make out Laevaten's wailing as it glides towards you, enraged. While you have succeeded in halting its assault on Mel, you are left unsure if you can escape your own fate in your current state. Still, you struggle to regain most of your consciousness as Laevaten prepares to finish you off. Laevaten readies: Streamshot You: Guh... (Dragging yourself along the floor) My body... It hurts... S-So much... (Struggling to pull yourself back up, but are unable to) Laevaten uses Streamshot! You: (You close your eyes, ready to be cut in two by the sharp stream of water) A strange voice inside your head suddenly calls out to you. It was a calming, yet firm, female voice. Strange Voice: Move! You: Huh? Your eyes shoot open at the sound of the voice. Within that split second, it seemingly yanks you out of your daze and brings you to move instinctively. You are no longer Stunned. You are able to avoid the Streamshot just by a hair as you roll off to one side. Were it not so thin and precise, you would have definitely been torn to shreds. The attack nearly cuts the ice you were laying on, though actually causing quite some damage on the dome's icy wall behind it. You get an idea of what a direct Streamshot would do to you as it shoots right through the frozen wall. Just under the newly-made hole was a small fissure-like crack that the attack had formed. To you, it was a way out. Quite possibly the only way out. You: (Scrambling to your feet, your body still pulsing with pain upon each step) Ugh... I was sure I heard a woman's voice just now, but... there's no use worrying about it until later. I think it's time me and Mel get out of here! If I can just dodge one more attack like that and have it hit the same spot, it'll definitely break through and create an opening... You look at the damaged wall, then at a large frozen boulder not too far from it, and then over at Mel. You: Okay. If I can get Mel behind that boulder, maybe it'll keep her from getting hit while I attempt to draw its attack towards the opening once more. But now my only problem is getting Mel over here safely... This thing isn't just going to wait for me to drag her right over. Maybe if I- Unable to shoot another consecutive Streamshot due to a lack of energy, Laevaten makes haste back to its "water hole" and begins recharging its crystals after spreading those angelic fins. You: Perfect...! I guess that'll do just fine... But it's now or never! (Putting away your weapons and running after the frozen Mel) After reaching Mel, you grab her solidified body and grunt as you begin to slide her across the ice. You are careful to avoid the rougher, cracked portions of the frozen lake bed, not wanting to "break" her. Unfortunately, you appear to have miscalculated the time it would take you to get Mel behind the boulder, as Laevaten finishes feeding energy to its crystals and glides itself back up into the air. You: Oh, no! It's already done charging itself!? But it finished a lot slower before...! (Looking at the ice boulder in the distance, which was still way out of reach) No... I'm not going to make it... Laevaten readies: Streamshot
You: (You hold onto Mel and shut your eyes, like before) I'm sorry... Just then, the Frost Dome begins to rumble violently. At first, you think its the large whale causing it, but when you see that Laevaten, too, seems perplexed by the source of the impact, you turn to look at the previous opening. You could see a large, looming shadow on the other side of the ice, following by the distant blaring sounds of an engine. A faint whistle breaks into the dome, and then another series of rumbling shakes the foundation of the dome. They sounded like missiles. You: What's going on!? That sound... (Backing away from your side of the dome's wall as it begins to shatter) The dome was pounded and practically torn apart by this strong force. After a few more rumbles, a huge section of the frozen chamber collapsed and made way to the outside, where a sleek airship hovered overhead with large turrets pointing inside. Man's voice: (Transmitting loudly from the airship) Right, then, anyone alive in there, kindly leave the interior of the gigantic igloo please. One large order of badda-boom coming right up! You: Who is that...? Forget it, we're getting out of here, Mel! (Making your way outside with her as fast as possible) There were a large number of Brigade out there, including civilians who were being told to stay back. The blaring engines of the sleek airship flying overhead made everybody's shouting hard to hear as they quickly motioned you over. Man's voice: (Transmission) Hooooey! Look at the size of that thing! I could fetch us a pretty penny for a catch like that, yeah? Lion's voice: (Transmission) Don't even think about it, Sekai. This ain't no ordinary fish, you hear? Blast it straight to hell! Sekai's voice: (Transmission) Hehe, I just thought I'd give my input. Now, who wants sushi!? They unload a barrage of projectiles into the broken frost dome, not letting Laevaten escape. All you hear before the entire dome is engulfed in flame and smoke is its ear-piercing wails, which weren't so bad now that you were outside. However, something very unusual catches your eye as you look into the frozen hell one last time as it is blown apart. It was the silhouette of a man standing there calmly, amid the explosions. You could see him so clearly, as if his shadow broke right through the fire and smoke. You couldn't make out any of his features, except for his exceptional height and pointed ears. All sound appears to drown out of your ears at this point, even the sounds of the blaring turrets and the man's- Sekai's voice, laughing into the transmitter. The strange silhouette holds out a cerulean stone towards you, which brims with its aquatic glow even in the midst of the chaos going on in there. Much like before with the stone you found inside the Sacred Tree, you feel a strong longing towards this one. Like it's a part of you that you've been searching for so long. Dazed, you begin to reach for it despite the distance between you and the exploding dome. You could almost swear the stone was floating towards you... However, it suddenly lets out a bright gleam before shattering into a million, disappearing pieces. The stone, and the silhouette were gone. Gone forever. You don't know why, but it brought a lump to your throat and it caused your eyes to sting. The Winter Frigicite has shattered into a million pieces... You were unable to claim it. ~*~
Lake Eden A while later... You idle about rather silently as people run back and forth securing the area, emergency medics tending to Mel- who had myseriously unfrozen after the Winter Frigicite shattered. But she appeared to be unconscious. Yet all you could think about, was that very scene. It hurt for some reason, knowing you weren't ever going to see that Winter Frigicite again. Annie, who was shoving medics aside and attempting to tend to her childhood friend Mel herself but to no avail, noticed you and began to storm her way over to you. Annie: (Grabbing you by the collar and nearly hauling you off your feet) What the hell happened in there!? What in the world did that thing do to Mel? And why only her, huh!? You: (Answering quietly) Uh... I... I don't know... Annie: (Narrowing her eyes) Just what the hell are you playing at, "Rook"? I have a seriously hard time believing that overgrown fish could have taken Mel out, and not a rookie like you...? Who are you, really? (Shaking you) You: (Grabbing onto her wrists) I don't know, okay!? I have no idea why that thing chose not to freeze me! We were on a regular mission, killing frost angels, then out of nowhere... It flew out of the water and froze the entire area over! The last thing I remember, is Mel telling me to "look out". After that, I was left alone... I had no choice but to fight it. Annie: (Purses her lips firmly, gritting her teeth with her mouth closed and giving you a good, long look) Stiff: (Walking over, with Flint beside him) Take it easy, Annie. Rook didn't do anything. (Looks over at you and tilts his head) You just happened to be at the wrong place, at the wrong time, right? It couldn't be helped. You: (You nod silently) Flint: (Nodding, putting a hand on Annie's shoulder) Yeah, c'mon. Mel's receiving some top-notch elemental healing. She'll be up and around after a good rest! Annie: (Growls under her breath and releases you) Ugh. Whatever. Don't think we're done questioning you... We saw everything. The whole fight. (Points at you accusingly before turning and making her way back to Mel) Flint: (Shrugs and gives a helpless smile) Don't mind her, Rook. She's just jealous that you fought so well, for a newbie. Not many of us could have taken on such an enemy when we were rookies... Good job! (Patting you on the back) You: Wait... You were all watching me? But how? Stiff: It's a little complicated, actually. (Rubbing the back of his head) In fact, I think I need an explanation on how it works again... Uhh? (Tapping his chin, turning around and waving Lion over from where she was on the airship) Lion: (Puts two fingers between her lips and whistles, riding a cable from the ship down to the ground. She then runs over to you all) You called, kid? Stiff: Hey, Lion... Tell me again how we were able to see Rook fighting that thing? (Playful grin) Lion: (Sighs and puts a hand to her hip) You're hopeless. I'll do this for Rook. (Pulls out a CommPearl and speaks into it) Hey, Sekai? Will you bring your bird down here for a bit? Stiff's here waiting for you. Oh, and bring the girl! Sekai's voice: (Transmission) That so? I'll be right down. Stiff: (Blinks, then throws his head back to look at the airship hovering above) That was Sekai, wasn't it!? I knew I recognized that voice earlier! Why didn't you tell me he was here, Lion? (Somewhat excited) Lion: (Smiles and shrugs) I wanted to surprise you. He got here just moments before that beam of light had appeared. Says he's become the Captain of the Brigade Wing. Stiff: No way! Sekai? Lion: (Puts a hand to her hip and nods) Mm! You: (Scratching the side of your head) Uh... Sorry to interrupt, but who's Sekai? You know, besides being the Captain of the Brigade Wing. Lion: (Crosses her arms behind her head and looks up with a faded smile) He used to be the most wanted man there ever was. They say he had a hand in every large money-making scheme out there. Sekai the Underhand; is what the dragons call him. Pirate, thief, lady's man, airship engineer, mercenary, blackmarket extraordinaire. Sekai's a jack of all trades. I'm sure he's up there when it comes to the richest men in the world. Though he used to keep low for... obvious... reasons. But ever since he took a positive role in the start of the second war three years ago, he's been welcomed into the Brigade and its ranks as Captain. You: Wow... He sounds like quite the guy. Stiff: Yeah, sure, there's all that... But he also happens to be the guy who trained both me and Lion. He was also friends with my parents, back when they were still around and all... He taught me a lot about em'. You: Really? But I thought the dragons trained you for three years? Lion: Oh, they played their share in the training. But for the most part, they just enhanced what Sekai taught Stiff. Like, seriously enhanced. Flint: Also, a lot of the crazy new tech you see around headquarters was designed by the man himself. I've been under his guidance the last few years, since we need somebody to always be there to get things up and running. You: That's amazing. (Looking over at the custom airship Sekai was piloting as it docked on the ice.) Sounds like a key person- not only in the Brigade, but in your lives as well... They all nod at your words and watch as he makes his way down the airship's steel ramp, followed by a young, pretty woman who looked no older than twenty-one. She had long black hair and deep black eyes, with a pale and fair complexion to her skin. Whoever she was, she wasn't the slightest bit bothered by what was going on, and paid no mind to anyone. Stiff: (Grins and welcomes Sekai, latching his hand onto his shoulder and giving him a firm shake) Sekai; boss, it's been too long! Sekai: (Giving him a one-armed hug and giving a wide grin) Stiff, ya beautiful son of a b***h! How the hell have ya been!? Stiff: I've never been better! (Laughs) Well, damn, I just heard about your new position in the Brigade. It's going to be a fricken' hell of a ride working with ya, boss. Sekai: Same to you, boyo! What say we take my bird's new model- the Icarus Wing Mk. IV, for a whirl? It's got an on-deck bar that rivals even the highest of luxury hotels! Come on, mate, it'll be just like old times! Stiff: (Gives a helpless smile) As much as I'd love that, boss, we actually called you over for another reason... Sekai: That so? Well, I'll take a rain check on that one, then. What's the problem? Stiff: (Grabs your shoulder and pulls you beside him) This here's Rook! One of the Brigade's newest but brightest rookies. Rook's the one who was in there fighting that giant fish... Oh, and Rook wanted to ask you something about that video transmission. Sekai: Yeah? That's quite something, Rook. (Shakes your hand) I figured you were one of the Elites taking that thing on, all by yourself... I have a feeling I'm going to be working with ya plenty. Girl with black hair: (Lifts her gaze and looks at you) ... You: (You clear your throat and smile, introducing yourself) Oh, uh, hello there... It's a pleasure. I was really just lucky, you know? But, er... I wanted to ask, how were you guys watching me? As far as I know, me and Mel were the only ones in there. Sekai: (Smiles and puts his hand on the raven haired girl's shoulder) Taly, would you care to explain to our lucky friend here how your powers work? Taly: ... Okay. (Gives a light nod, taking a few steps towards you and reaching up. She hovers her delicate palm over your forehead and closes her eyes, exhaling) You: Huh...? (Blinking) The world around you is suddenly sucked into an endless void. It briefly closes, leaving only a white backdrop with Taly standing before you. You: What...? Where am I? What have you done to me? (Looking around) Taly: (Remains calm) Insight. I have tapped into your mind, and gained access into your reality... You: (Blinking) I... I don't understand, exactly. Are you psychic or something? Taly: (Gently tugs on your arm and then turns, pointing beyond the white backdrop) Look. All of the white began to fade, like fog being blown away. It uncovered many places and people you have seen before... Those you have seen in your strange visions and dreams! You: This is...! Taly: (Let's go of your arm and sets her hand back gently to her side) Your reality knows many things of this world... Of this life. Things that your mind does not. That your body does not. You: (Furrowing your brows in thought, looking at her) Taly...? What are you talking about? Taly: (Turns slowly and reaches up to poke you on your forehead) You and I... are the same. You, too, have Insight... Into the other realities. You: Wait, are you telling me... You get weird visions like me? Taly, do you know why we get these visions? I have to know! (You put your hands to her shoulders) What's been happening to me? Taly: (Looks up at you. She closes her left eye for two seconds, then opens it again.) You are shocked by what you see. It's that eye. That very same eye that watches you in your dreams. The eye of twilight. As Taly gazes into you with that eye, you feel yourself suddenly sucked into her, as if she herself were a void. But it only takes a very brief moment for you to realize that you weren't sucked into a void. You have somehow... "swapped" bodies with her, for you stood there looking up at your very own self. And in your very own right eye, was another twilight eye such as the one that gazed into your dreams. You began to speak to yourself, in Taly's voice. Taly: (Speaking through you) You, too, are a keeper of the Twil'Eye. The all-seeing. Ne'er changing. ~*~
Meanwhile, outside of your shared vision with Taly... The others were watching as you stood there, staring blankly at the girl. They watched from a large pearl in Taly's palm that appeared to project the previous battle from your very eyes into an image in the air. For whatever reason, what was truly happening in your mind wasn't projecting into the pearl. Sekai: (Pointing at the projected image with his thumb) As you can all see, Taly's got some telepathic properties that allow her to communicate with people through their heads. (Pointing at his head with a smirk) But, not only can she communicate with em'... She can actually see what's going on through their eyes. It took years to make, and it's still a bit buggy- but I was able to create a device using pearls like so that records these visions from her mind as if they were recording a normal memory... Stiff: That's insane...! (Shoving his hand through the image, more amazed by the techyness of it than anything. But he quickly straightens up) So, you're telling me Taly was able to tap into Rook's mind and show you guys what was going on in there? Lion: (Nods) That's right. She wasn't able to do it too long, as you can see... (The feed suddenly shuts off) It took a lotta' brain power for her to pull that one off from inside the Icarus Wing. Stiff: (Gives a faint smile) Heh... I should get her to tap into Okina's mind sometime. Lion: (Raises a brow) Problems with the girlfriend? Stiff: (Sighs, rubbing the back of his neck) No! Well, I don't know... I just feel like she's not really stoked about me after so long. I mean, it could just be my imagination... Lion: Eh? Go on, tell me what happened. (Pulling Stiff away from the crowd) Sekai: (Shakes his head) All this domestic stuff.... (Pats Taly's shoulder) You can stop with the tapping now, sweetheart. Flint: "Sweetheart?" Oh, so it's like that...  Figures you'd settle with a beautiful girl after all! Sekai: ... Flint: What?  Sekai: She's my daughter... Ya prick.  Flint:  ....Dude, aren't you like, twenty-five or something? Sekai: I'm, er... forty-four, actually. Flint:  OOOUUUUWWWHAAAAT!? How is that possible!? You look almost as young as I do! And I'm twenty!Sekai: It's complicated. Get back to me in fifteen years or so and the final product will be ready for the public.  Aw, yeah! ~*~ It appears you had swapped back to your original body now after having seen it first hand, but you were still in this strange "reality" with Taly. You: What do you mean... The "Twil'Eye?" Is that what's been staring into my dreams all this time!? Wait... It was you, wasn't it? You've been watching me all this time! Taly: ... Question 1: You believe that you have finally found the source of your strange visions and dreams. Will you confront the mysterious Taly about it? 1). 2). Taly, who exactly are you? And what did you mean about... being the same as me? (5 votes) **Results have been tallied. ~*~ To be continued... (Leave your choices in the Comment/Review section below) © 2012 JobynAuthor's Note
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5 Reviews  Last Updated on July 11, 2012 Tags: Adventure, Excitement, Interactive, Anime, Manga, Fantasy, Romance, War, Comedy, Humor, Mature, Brotherly, Friendship, Love, Book |
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