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Banned
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Somewhere over the rainbow, in a house dropped on an ugly, old woman.
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Tossing this up, part 3 of Recollections of a Lost Age. Enjoy. If there's some glaring error, let me know. Otherwise I'll throw it up on ff.net tomorrow or something, where you can find the first two parts. This one finishes up Signum's part, and goes into Zafiras. Halfway done with Chapter 4, Shamal's part, which should be done in a day or so. Really feeling the creative juices flowin' on this.
Spoiler for Chapter 3: Fangs and Shields:
Recollections of a Lost Age
Chapter 3: Fangs and Shields
Zanth drifted closer. “Yes, kill her! With her consciousness dead, I can take over her body. It's not much, but it's a start!”
Signum whirled and Zanth's expression changed into surprise as he sputtered, his face dropping to see his stomach impaled by her sword.
“I'm not your plaything anymore!” Signum growled, loosening her grip on Rein. “Levantine!”
“Explosion!” her sword sounded back, almost sounding chipper while it loaded two cartridges.
“Dragon Flash Burst!” she nearly whispered to Zanth's widening eyes.
Zanth's body nearly exploded into heat and light as the Belkan Knight yanked her sword free, twisting her body to shield Rein as she threw up the last of her magic into a barrier. The force of the blast sent her flying down the hallway, but she did her best to tuck herself around the smaller girl until they stopped rolling and came to a stop.
Panting, Signum opened up her hand. “Rein, are you alright?”
The smaller girl cracked her eyes open. “Y-yes, I think so.” Then she smiled. “Welcome back!”
The Wolkenritter leader released Rein, then dragged herself up, dabbing at the head wound she had just received. The blood leaking from it at forced her to close her left eye. But there was a bigger pain that dwarfed the rest.
“Rein, I'm sorry,” she said, bowing her head. “I remember everything now, my first life, and how Zanth corrupted me the first time. I was too weak to stop it then, just as I was too weak now.” Her head came up. “But through the things you helped me remember, I also recalled my pledge that day. My sword is meant to serve and protect, not to destroy.”
Rein floated up and patted Signum on the head. “We are all weak by ourselves. But that's what friends are for, to protect us.” She smiled. “Even hard-headed leaders need protecting!”
“Y-YOU-!” Both girls were interrupted and drawn to where Zanth lay... or perhaps a better term would have been 'melting.' Already, his legs had dissolved into a partial black bubbling puddle, while his torso sported a giant hole.
Signum limped her way over to him, sword in her right hand, her left hand holding onto her bloody right side. “It looks like your time is up.”
He forced a laugh, coughing up black blood. “You can't kill me. I told that brat before, that I am immortal in here.” He grinned as his torso joined the puddle. “I will be back...”
The Belkan Warrior snarled and sliced Levantine down, but his head disappeared into the puddle a split second before the sword made contact, clanging onto the floor instead.
Rein floated beside Signum, placing her hand on the bigger woman's cheek, then initiated a unison to help heal her injuries. “[Let's get out of here for now and talk with the others.]”
Signum closed her eyes as white light engulfed her body. “Ah...”
“You really overdid it,” Hayate scolded them like an overprotective parent. “Do you know how worried I was for both of you!?”
“I'm sorry,” Signum replied, her armor mostly removed as Shamal continued to treat her wounds. The Belkan Knight's slight smile indicated something else, however.
“Me, too,” Rein added, back in her jar.
A little demon floated over her master. “I'm just upset you had all this action without me. I would have smacked you back to yourself much faster than the other twerp. Geez.” She seemed unnerved by the look on Signum's face. “What!?”
“Agito...” To the surprise of all, Signum smiled and hugged the little winged girl to her chest tightly.
“Mmmrph!” Agito replied intelligently, then managed to pull herself free. “What the hell was that about!?”
Signum just continued to smile. “I shall tell you another day.”
“Shari, what's the word?” Vita asked to change the subject, coming over to stand near her workstation.
“I can't find any trace of this 'Zanth Le Ronne' as you call him,” the technician replied, bringing up various screens of data. “I still think he's some sort of virus, and you hurt it badly. I'm guessing he's hiding somewhere for now to rebuild his strength.”
Hayate leafed through the book. “I remember what Clarius told me. Zanth could be still in this book, but I've been through all the pages, and I can't find anything out of the ordinary. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to find him.”
“I can,” Zafiras spoke up for the first time since this all began. He stood up and walked over to Hayate. “I'm a wolf; I can track anything with the proper scent.”
“It's not that simple, Zafiras,” Shari told him, sighing. “He's a magical computer virus, hidden somewhere within either Rein's subconscious and/or the Tome of the Night Sky. I don't think you can track those, nor do I think he has any kind of scent.”
Zafiras was adamant. “Everything has a scent.”
“The two times we've encountered him so far, were because he wanted to be found,” Shamal stated. “It won't be so easy this time, especially since he knows we're onto him.”
“If I can contact Clarius again, he might have a way,” Rein offered.
Zafiras switched to his human form. “Then it's settled, I will go with Rein.”
“If you find him, save him for me,” Vita told him evenly, slamming her hammer into her hand to accentuate the point. “I'll make him wish he had died all those years ago.”
The guardian beast bowed. “When I find where he is hiding, I swear I will point you straight to him.” He went to the table and lay down. “I am ready, if Rein is.”
The small girl nodded, floating over to him.
“Just a moment, Zafiras and Rein,” Shari called, tapping away furiously on her keyboard. “I'm uploading a special marker program to Rein. If you can find Zanth's hiding place, or chase him to it, we should be able to track it out here. I'm also going to hook you up to the book. Theoretically, your mental states should be able to enter it as easily as your dream worlds.”
“Understood,” the Guardian Beast and the Unison Device said as one.
When Shari and Shamal gave them the nod, the two united, and allowed themselves to drift off to sleep.
“[I almost didn't think this was going to work,]” Rein sent to him, as they descended through a void, past various images, pictures and scenery. “[I've never unisoned with you or Shamal before.]”
“[Me either,]” Zafira replied, amused. “[It's interesting. Hold on, I am going to try something.]” Concentrating, Zafira shifted to his wolf form, pleased that he had control over that. “[I function better this way, since it is my true form. I had to see if we could remain in unison during it.]”
“[This is so cool!]” Rein nearly squealed. “[The way this feels on all fours, and the way you see and hear things; it's all so different!]”
Zafiras chuckled, then he turned more serious. “[Alright, we should get started. I've been getting used to the scents around here, and the scents you carry. I've sorted out the one unique scent I've haven't been able to identify yet, so that should be him.]”
“[Wait!]” Rein stopped him. “[I think we should try to talk to Clarius first. I don't want what happened to Signum, to happen to you, too. Do you remember your first life and encounter with Zanth?]”
The Guardian Beast shook his head. “[No, but I've never believed it important. All that matters is how I may serve the master of the Tome of the Night Sky; our Lady Hayate.]”
“[Please, let's just talk to him first?]” Rein pleaded, and exhaled in relief when he acceded. She focused her thoughts on a wider range. “[Clarius? Can you hear me?]”
There was a minute of pause, and then, “[I am glad to see you are well, little one. I sense you wish to talk. Have you and your Guardian Beast close your eyes. I will guide you to my sanctum.]”
The two did as instructed, and descended.
A pair of eyes watched the wolf-beast move between two images and then get swallowed up by the darkness. A voice belonging to the eyes let out a low, pleased laughter.
“They disappeared!” Shari exclaimed suddenly.
Shamal looked up from her medical readings. “What? Where?”
Shari exhaled in frustration. “I don't know. The tracking program had them, and then it just lost the signal.” She looked up, meeting Shamal's, Signum's, and Vita's faces. “Wherever they are, they are on their own.”
The group turned their gaze to the sleeping form on the table.
“Welcome to my humble abode, you two.”
Rein floated over to hug the old man. “Oops, I'm sorry, I just feel close to you for some reason.”
He chuckled. “It's understandable. You carry a small part of the original keeper of the tome, the one your current master renamed Reinforce.” He turned to the wolf. “And it is good to see you again, Noble Beast.”
Zafiras switched to human form. “I am sorry, but I do not remember you.”
Clarius nodded, sitting back in his chair. “That is to be expected. You have had many lifetimes, and mortal beings were not meant to carry so many memories. However, your first lives should always be remembered. That is part of my function. The original Clarius left me behind as a backup. He chose each of the guardian knights due to the righteousness in their hearts as the ultimate protection for the knowledge in the Tome. And should they become corrupted, to restore them.”
“Then why didn't you?” Rein wondered aloud. “The book was corrupted for a long time.”
“Zanth was more devious and powerful then Clarius suspected,” the old man told them, looking tired. “He changed the name to the Book of Darkness and seperated the guardian knight programs from it temporarily. After their corruption, he wiped the book's memory, then reattached them. I barely managed to protect myself and hide. His magical programs roamed out there. Had I acted, I would have been destroyed, and there would have been no hope.
He rubbed his eyes. “And then Hayate came along, restoring your emotions and renaming the book. Even if you didn't have your original memories, you were returning to who you were. I felt that was good enough. I didn't see that Zanth had managed to hide in the book itself.” He pointed his cane at Zafiras. “But if you are to confront him, you must relearn who you are. He knows you, all of the guardian knights. Even your memories may not be enough, however.”
“If they will help, then I stand ready to receive them,” Zafiras informed him, bowing to one knee.
“It's not that easy,” Clarius replied. “Hayate, subconsciously, has managed to start the process of separation for the knight system. Her wish that you become real again has been granted. And while this means the book will end it's existence when Hayate dies, I have come to believe it's for the best. Such an accumulation of magical knowledge is too risky, too tempting, to have in one place. Rein.”
The little girl floated closer. “Yes?”
“Rein still has a strong link to the book, and so I can download your memories into her, and then she can pass them onto you,” he explained. “Are you ready?”
At her firm nod, Clarius began the second transfer, data rolling across Rein's temporarily blank eyes. He then collapsed back into his chair as it was finished.
Rein blinked her eyes, looking down at the old man. “Are you alright?”
He smiled and warded her off. “Just takes a bit out of me. I'll be fine in awhile. You go ahead and transfer them to Zafiras.”
“I don't think that's a good idea!”
Zafiras twisted around and went into wolf-form. “Look out!”
The Guardian Beast yowled and white spikes shot up from the ground, but the black ooze that erupted from the fireplace merely flowed around it. Rein barely had time to throw up her hands in a hastily cast spell, before it engulfed her and Clarius. Zafiras howled and dove towards Rein's last known location, swiping with his claws and biting with his teeth to get the ooze off her. Part of the ooze formed a tentacle and smacked the beast halfway across the room.
“I'm sorry, we can't have that,” the voice came again, this time forming half a face in the large blob. “It's good to see you again, old friend. You may not remember me, but I'm your old master, Zanth Le Ronne.”
Zafiras dragged himself to his feet, growling. “I don't care who you are. But you will let them go or I will tear you to pieces.”
Zanth laughed. “You can't do anything to me in this form. And now I have reclaimed the girl, and captured that pesky old man's last program. I knew she couldn't have broken my control over Signum by herself; she had to have had help. And this little pocket is such a marvelous hiding spot; I never knew it was here!”
“I am more powerful than you know,” the Guardian Beast informed him in a threatening manner. But he knew Zanth was at least partially right; he couldn't attack indiscriminately, not while Rein was still in there somewhere. [I'll have to dig her out, but he also mentioned this place as a hiding spot; Can they detect us on the outside?]
Roaring at the top of his lungs, Zafiras entrapped the blob in a cage of white spikes, but he didn't stop there. Pouring all his magic into it, the whole room began to shake, spikes erupting all over the place, until the whole room fell apart. The spikes shattered then, destroying the hidden pocket and returning them all to the void of falling images.
Zanth destroyed his own cage and remarked sadly, “Well, there goes a perfectly good hideout. But I don't think you thought this through; I'm pitch black, and so is most of these surroundings!”
In an instant, they were no longer in the void, but in a forest clearing. “I had already realized that was going to be the case, so we will fight here.”
The black blob looked around, and chuckled. “My, you guardian knights do love this place. When I broke each and every one of you, this was always the place you returned to in your mind. Your safe haven, before I destroyed it as well!”
Zafiras roared and charged.
Rein awoke to the ebony void all around her, lit only by the soft glow of her nearby open book. Then she recalled casting the ice shell spell shortly before she was engulfed by the ebony blob. She was relieved to see it was still intact, protecting her from the flowing ooze all around her.
“Zafiras!” she called suddenly in worry. “Clarius!”
“The old man can't hear you right now,” Zanth's voice echoed around her. “But would you like to see your little doggy?”
Without waiting for an answer, Zanth projected a screen shown from his perspective. Several thin and sharp tentacles hung in view, hovering over Zafiras, who had many red lashes covering his body. He was breathing hard, and Rein could see he was approaching his limit, yet he fought on.
“Did you know that breaking an animal is vastly similar to breaking a human?” Zanth told her matter-of-factly. “He's already beginning to react, the whips leading him, punishing him when he doesn't go where I want him to. I admit, he was harder to break than the other three. The loyalty of a dog is something.”
“Stop it!” Rein cried, watching in helplessness as Zafiras suffered more lashes, breaking some of the whips, only to have them reform. She grabbed her book. “I'll stop you!”
Zanth chuckled. “Are you sure you want to do that? You'll have to drop your barrier to cast a spell, and in that instant I'll have you. Then how will you save your precious pet?”
Rein froze, realizing he was right. She was fine for the moment as long as the book kept up the spell. She inhaled and screamed at the top of her lungs.
“ZAFIRAS RUN!”
Outside, Zafiras panted heavily, unable to hear Rein at all. He knew his attacks weren't getting anywhere; he really had no way of damaging an amorphous blob. But there had to be a way, he knew, as he dodged one whip, blocked another with a shield and cut several more with his fangs and claws.
But he didn't see the one that had tunneled underground, and now broke out into the open to grab his tail, slamming him into the ground.
“Return to me and I will let the girl and the old man live,” Zanth offered him. “I'll even guarantee that I won't hurt your current master, this Hayate girl.”
The battered beast dragged himself to his feet once more. “Maybe, but I won't let you touch the rest of the knights. I know you want them, and I want help you do that!”
The blob chuckled. “Give up, Zafiras.”
“...give up, Zafiras,” a female voice said.
He shook his head.
“You're yesterday's product, obsolete!” Zanth continued.
“...we're obsolete to them, yesterday's product,” another one said.
Zafiras's head dropped, eyes shut tight for a moment, as the memory flashed in his head. [I have to focus. There has to be a way!]
The whips came in again, slashing at his legs, body, and head. Zafiras endured it as long as he could, then his legs could no longer support his weight and he fell to the ground.
Zanth paused. “Is that all you have? I remember you lasting longer the first time. Have you given up?”
“Don't... hurt.. the others...” he panted, coughing up blood.
“Your loyalty is quite impressive,” Zanth complimented him. “Maybe I might see fit to spare some, if you come with me.” The black tentacles wrapped themselves around his body, pulling him into his amorphous body. “And you can continue to protect Rein under my care. You will be her shield, and my fang.”
“We are their fangs and shields!” he shouted back at the orange-haired familiar.
“Rein...” Zafiras whispered as his limp body was absorbed.
“I have her, right here.”
“Zafiras!” Rein cried, her spherical ice bubble drifting into view. “Don't give up, Zafiras!”
“I am sorry...” the battered wolf replied, eyes closing.
“No!” Rein shouted, spreading out her arms and legs, her bubble changing form to mimic her, her head orienting on her target.
Before Zanth could realize what she had planned, Rein collapsed her arms to her sides and closed her legs. The bubble changed form to more like a thin bullet as Rein half-swam and half-tunneled at magic-enhanced speeds, striking Zafiras on the cheek.
The bubble popped so that she could touch him, and then shout, “Remember!”
“Zafiras, did you hear the news?” Hayden the griffin told him as the wolf walked into the Guardian Beast barracks. “Our unit is being deactivated. We are being disbanded. We are no longer needed.”
He had heard. “We are still loyal to our masters and will serve in any capacity they need us for.”
“Oh, give up, Zafiras,” a female voice said. “Blind loyalty while we're being used and then tossed aside like animals is naïve, even for you.”
He looked up as Ranna descended, shifting from her large bat form to human form, her long black hair unfurling. Her words did have a mark of truth, which stung.
“T-That's not all!” came a new voice from the dark corner that he recognized as Theevus the rat. “I heard about the new weapons! Powerful technology-based ones, with the ability to level cities at a time. No magic needed!”
Information and spying was his specialty; Zafiras knew Theevus's information was always accurate. All the battles the Guardian Beast unit had won, and all the operations they had completed successfully... did it mean nothing to their masters?
“Figures, we're obsolete to them, yesterday's product,” Jerin, a gargoyle, commented darkly.
“And there's more!” Theevus added nervously, getting the attention of all in the room. He was always the cowardly type, but his fear this time was very evidently real. “We are to be destroyed, and our magic reclaimed.”
“This goes too far!” Hayden shouted, other Guardian Beasts echoing his sentiment.
A deep snarl sounded from the corner of the room. “Indeed it does, noble Hayden. I think it is time to remind the humans of our power.”
Zafiras watched the mighty Serpentine Dragon uncoil himself, head lifting to hover over all of them. “Ghan, what are you planning?”
“We will strike and crush our would-be overlords,” the dragon roared. “It is time we became our own masters.”
Other beasts joined in the call, but Zafiras shouted, “No! If we attack them, we are no better than they are! I say we just leave and form our own community.” To his comfort, he saw several of the beasts nodding, including Ranna. He knew he could always count on her to support him.
“They will never let us go,” Ghan countered. “They gave us life, and feel that they own us! How do you propose we get away safely.”
Zafiras grinned. “I have made a contact in one of the foot soldier units. We are not the only ones who are being sidelined by this weapon development. I plan to meet with her tonight; we can escape tonight.”
Ghan's face came down to stare the in the wolf's own. “You have tonight, Zafiras. If you fail, we do it my way.”
“Can you do it, then?” Zafiras asked the figure under cover of dark, in an empty section of town. Above them, the Belkan fortress kept watch silently.
“Of course I can,” the female voice came from under the hood. “Provided your rat's intel is correct.”
“Theevus is always correct,” Zafiras replied.
“Then as we agreed, you help escort my people out as well,” she stated, lifting her mallet with both hands. “And I will take care of the weapons and provide enough of a distraction for us to escape!”
An explosion echoed on a far parapet of the fortress, then a siren sounded, startling both figures. “What's going on?”
“I don't know, but we'll have to take our chance now,” the hooded girl told him, leaping to a roof top.
“Agreed!” Zafiras called after her, then sprinted back to the barracks. He had a bad feeling in his gut.
“Zafiras!” Ranna called to him as he entered. “Ghan took most of the beasts to attack the fortress!”
The wolf growled in anger, the nearly empty barracks confirming the truth of her statement. Only a couple others remained. “Theevus, Hayden, Ranna, why did you stay behind?”
“I'm not much of a fighter, heh heh,” Theevus admitted.
Hayden stood and spread his wings. “Ghan's words rang true to me, but so did yours. I do not wish to become like the humans.”
Ranna knelt down and wrapped her arms around Zafiras's mane. “And you know me; I couldn't go anywhere without you.”
“Thank you,” he told them all. “But we have work to do. My contact is starting her portion of the plan. Theevus, you go ahead and escape. Ranna, Hayden and I will round up as many beasts as we can. We need to escape.”
The rat locked gazes with the wolf, and nodded in thanks. He wasn't a fighter, and asking this of him was too much. He scampered out his hole and disappeared.
The remaining three beasts took to the skies towards the fortress. In the distance, they could see Ghan had expanded his size to max, wrapping himself around one of the larger inner parapet's, and filling the inner sanctum with fire.
“Spread out!” Zafiras told the other two. “Grab who you can, then meet outside the city in our training area in 30 minutes!”
Hayden and Ranna nodded, the latter of the two fixing him with a gentle look even in bat form. The three split up.
The battle did not go well, as Zafiras had feared. The royal guards had counterattacked, using new projectile mass weapons, which didn't require any magic. Many of the beasts had already been cut down, including Ghan. Zafiras had fought through to him, but couldn't save him. In his last moments, the great dragon telepathically sent three words: “[You were right.]”
Zafiras had only managed to extract four of his brethren; Four out of a hundred. Ranna had found five, but Hayden hadn't returned at all. In a surprising move, three more had shown up, being told by Theevus, who had died in the escape. None of them would ever question the rat's bravery again.
The 14 beasts provided cover for the group of retreating humans from Zafiras's contact's squad, and their families, and parted ways a good distance away from the castle. The beasts had fulfilled their contract and wanted nothing more to do with humans.
But the saint's army wanted revenge, and caught up with them the next morning using strange new flying vehicles. The badly outnumbered group of beasts fought, but were overpowered. In the last moments, a badly-injured Ranna bound Zafiras and used her illusion magic to hide him. The magic wore off after the humans left.
“Why!?” Zafiras begged to know in human form, cradling a bloody human-form Ranna in his arms. “Why did you do it?”
She reached up to touch his cheek. “You are destined for something greater. One of us had to live to carry on the story of the Guardian Beasts. I will always love you, Zafiras, but you must live! Please, for me, LIVE!”
Her arm dropped limply and her eyes closed. Zafiras's cried her name, his shout devolving into a howl.
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