Aether Cross: The Tides of Time (Fantasy Quest)

[Reverent One]

Watch the steps that he takes. Take note of the way he walks, how his feet are shaped. Gauge the distance with your mind.

"RAAAO!" the beast roars.

One leg moves forward.
I lean backward in anticipation.

He's halfway there.

I get into the battle position that Master taught me. Two legs separated. Left pointing to the enemy, the right away. I thrust forward with an open hand. It glows a deep green before the energies that make up the light mix into the air, dying it instead a light blue.

The Beastkin called Geisus runs into a projected energy hand. The force he put into the charge now puts him face down into the ground. "Gghh." he release an angry grunt. After that he starts reaching for the sword that he apparently dropped after faceplanting.

"Stay down if you don't want to get hurt a second time." the energy hand I used vanished into nothing.

The furry musclehead didn't take my warning. Instead he pulled himself up off the ground with a bloody nose.

"Oh, sorry about that." I apologize sincerely which…

Probably wasn't the best idea.

He swings wide with one of his sharpened claws.
I bend backward to dodge.

"RAAAAAAAAAAO!" another roar.

I close my eyes since spit loosens itself from his open maw and into my face. "Disgusting." I shake it off.

Wasn't paying attention.
He swung wide again.

My body flies straight into the ground from the force of his strike. Blood drips onto the ground. "Ahhh… that really hurt."

I put a hand up to stop the bleeding.

Before I know it, the beastman is right on top of me with his claws raised.

"OH, I GUESS THIS IS THE END FOR THE HOTSHOT!" screams the hatman.

"Not really." I summon up the same energy as before.

As my opponent swings down with his bloody claw, I block it with another 'hand' formed from the energy called Aether.

Now Aether.
I should probably talk about it.

It's the essence of all living things, the 'soul', the 'will to move on' as my Master described it. It's in each one of the races that inhabit this planet, it's in the planet. It's what allows us to use magic as it is. If magic is firewood, Aether is the spark that ignites it.

I think that's all that needs explaining.

Hmmm..

Yeah, pretty much it.

"GGGRRRr." he growls.

"Seems you're impatient." I put more force onto the 'phantom hand'. It's enough to lift him up off of me but not the ground. "Let me end this fight then."

"W-what?" he says in a grumbling voice.

"Yeah, nice knowing you."

I bend down.
I release Aether from my legs.
The burst of magical energy throws me right into Geisus' face. With my knee out, I smash so hard in the nose that a resounding 'crack' sounds among the crowd.

"Ahhhh!" now the giant goes tumbling down onto the ground with a broken nose. While I'm still in the air, I redirect my feet so their pointing upward.

Performing the same trick as before, I throw myself down into the ground with my elbow instead of the knee. My arm digs into the armored Beastkin's stomach, causing him to lose breath. "Phew." I get up from my armored bed to see the entire crowd in front of me speechless. "That was fun. I guess."

"Aahhhhh." the hatman says.

"I'll be taking this." I bend down, grab the hat filled to the brim with cash and start to walk away.

Then all of a sudden everyone in the crowd starts cheering. I guess there was a bit of delay? I'm just happy I got enough money to last us for a while. Serves them right, I guess, for underestimating me.

"Lyle!" Amira trots on over to clean my face up since it was still bleeding. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, but he isn't." I point back to the unconscious Beastkin on the ground with a broken nose.

"Huh? He isn't?"

"Eh…"

[_] Why don't you go heal him up?
[_] The guy was a thug who probably beat on others before I came along to put a stop to it. He deserved it.
[_] Hey, Amira, what do you want to do?
[_] Custom

 

[hunter09]

[X] Hey, Amira, what do you want to do?

 

[kinglugia]

[X] Hey, Amira, what do you want to do?

 

[Jiven]

[X] The guy was a thug who probably beat on others before I came along to put a stop to it. He deserved it.

 

[Genome001]

[X] Hey, Amira, what do you want to do?

 

[Reverent One]

To be honest, the guy seemed like a thug who probably beat on others before I put a stop to him. It's not my place to judge, but I can't help but feel that he deserved it in some way. "Hey, Amira." I turn back toward the crowd who's partly staring at me and at the downed beastman. "What do you want to do?"

"Want to do?" she asks, "What do you mean?"

"Do you want to heal that guy? Leave him there?"

"That's a stupid question." the 'servant girl' points to the wound on my face, "He did that. He doesn't deserve to be healed."

"Guess so."

"What?" my arm is yanked.

"Nothing."

"No, no, what? There's something on your mind when you're making that face."

"What face?" Really have no idea what she's trying to get at since I can't even see my face right now.

"Like this!" Now Amira tries to mimic the expression that she thinks I'm making. Her eyes sag. Her curved lips go down. Tears start welling up in her face.

"I think I'd be aware if I was crying." I slap her lightly on the head while walking toward the hotel with the hat of money. Now that I think about it, won't the people get mad and feel scammed that I actually won the fight? It was their stupidity to put money on the guy that was 'obviously' going to win rather than the small fry who was spry enough to challenge him. Usually when that kind of thing happens, the underdog wins. By a fall out. Oh well, I'll justify it as 'their fault for betting on the obvious choice'.

"Not at all. You're a robot most of the time."

"You have me confused with someone else" I walk on to urge her to follow. Of course, she does because she doesn't want to be left alone in the street.

"Fine, live in denial." her nose pokes up into the air.
"I've been doing it my whole life up until now, should be pretty easy to keep doing." I'm talking about the hopes of ever living a normal life.

I want to.
I really want to but as long as I'm cursed like this.
As long as those monsters follow me.
As long as I keep getting into the trouble that I do.

I know that's not going to happen.

"Hah! Now you're making that face."

I stop walking.

Amira's big ol' red eyes peer straight into me.

"Yep, caught red handed." I'd raise my hands to feign surrender. I really would but I have the money hat clenched tightly to my chest to stop anyone from trying to steal it. Wait, why am I holding the hat?

I sit down on the ground, pull out my pocket bag and just shove it all in there.

Not sure how much it is, really, but having all this weight on the bag makes it feel worthwhile.

Wait.

Now that I have this money, what should I do with it?
I'm starting to think about those slave girls from before…

[_] I can purchase them with the money that I got.
[_] I need to take care of myself and Amira before even thinking about getting other mouths to feed.
[_] Going to free them the 'old fashioned way'.
[_] Custom

 

[Be;lanSniper]

[X] Going to free them the 'old fashioned way'.

 

[megrisvernin]

[X] I can purchase them with the money that I got.

We didn't free the slaves forcibly to avoid attracting attention. Might as well buy them.

 

[Winged One]

[X] Going to free them the 'old fashioned way'.

Fuck it, we were going to leave soon anyway. May as well do it pursued by an angry mob.

 

[hunter09]

[X] I can purchase them with the money that I got.

 

[Silversun17]

[X] I can purchase them with the money that I got.

 

[neobowman]

[X] Going to free them the 'old fashioned way'.

 

[Reverent One]

This is going to hang on my conscience all day. It's just going to keep nailing me in the back of the head until I actually do something about it.

"Amira," I look to her to make sure she's listening, "we're going to free those girls."

"What girls?" Did she really forget the people we seen just a few minutes ago before the fight? I mean, it wasn't that far away.

"Just follow me, okay?" She follows after me without question.

Looks like I'm retracing my steps back to the auction.
______________________________________________________
Hydewell Market District

…
Didn't take long to trot all the way back here.

To my surprise, it seems they're on the last two girls.

"Why are we back here?"

"I'm going to rescue them."

"Rescue them?" Amira's face brightens up, "So I'm going to get company after all?"

"I wouldn't call it company. Call them your friends."

"My friends, huh…" she ponders on the meaning of the word while I pull out my staff.

"Alright,"

I take in a deep breath.
Calm myself.
Calculate your movement.

Here I go!

"HAH!"

My feet lift off the ground…

Something pulls me back.

"Wha-"

The world turns upside down. I heard a thud.
…
… …

Wait a second, I'm on my back now. Something just flipped me using my leg. "Gonna make a scene in the middle of the street? Could've sworn I taught you better than that."

That gruff, masculine voice. "Master?"

"Yeah, none other than."

Yeah, there he stood. A man with well-defined features. A beard, headband... not wearing a shirt. Yep, this was the man who trained me. My Master Zeppelin Ulrich.

A blade coated with lightning rips through the air.
Straight at Master where he just grabs the hilt of Amira's sword to stop its advance. He uses his other hand to push her back with just a palm thrust. She loses balance and falls on her butt. "Ouch!"

"Again, you don't think these things through, huh?" he was criticizing my plan, wasn't he?

[_] I was just trying to do some good, alright?
[_] It was a stupid idea, I know, you don't have to lecture me.
[_] I'm still going to go through with it.
[_] Custom

 

[neobowman]

[X] The plan could work with your help.

 

[Be;lanSniper]

[X] It was a stupid idea, I know, you don't have to lecture me.

 

[Silversun17]

[X] It was a stupid idea, I know, you don't have to lecture me.

 

[Winged One]

[X]"Not really. Want to help me come up with a better plan?"

 

[Reverent One]

"It was a stupid idea, I know, you don't have to lecture me."

"The idea's stupid, the sentiment isn't." he gives me a hearty smile while patting me on the back. "Though you have proven, once again, that you lack foresight ."

"So you're going to rag on me again? This time it's not reading the situation…"

"If I don't, no one will." he crosses his arms while permeating this 'intimidating' aura of his. I'd open my mouth to strike back with a wise crack. I would, but I don't feel like being beaten to within an inch of my life.

If there is one man on this world that could beat me silly.
It's Master.

"Alright, look at her, Lyle." he points to Amira who's just now getting her rear up off of the ground."She's your responsibility now." his calloused hand grabs my head, directing it toward the girl's being auctioned off. "Now look at them."

"What am I looking for?" I don't dare fight back because the reasons I already talked about.

"Look at'em. What do you really see?" he asks.

"Young girls bound by chains. Being sold out in public to people they don't know."

"Yeah, you're right, what would you have done if you rescued them like you were going to?"

"I would have brought them with me." Master lets go of my head. When he does I scoot away a few steps. "Amira said she wanted the company too."

"Three more mouths to feed plus the one you already have. How much trouble is this girl?" he points to Amira with a jerk of his thumb.

"Well-"

"I'm no trouble at all!" the girl herself answers the question. Then she tugs on my arm. "Am I?" it was passed from me, to her, now back to me.

"Let's be realistic. Yes, you are a bit of trouble."

"What?" seems the answer surprised her.

"But I like having you around, Amira." I pat her on the head. "Don't forget that."

"So count in the handful that this girl is… how much chaos would you have to go through for four of them?"

"You're forgetting the point of my rescuing them. I was going to do it to free them, so they wouldn't have to live like that anymore." anger seeps into my voice. I do my best to speak low as not to attract any attention.

"When did you get so selfish?" the old man furrows his brow. "I thought I disciplined you better than that."

"Selfish?!" seems I lose control on my voice. "What's so selfish about wanting to help them?!"

"I said your sentiment was right earlier, didn't I? Or didn't you hear it right?" my Master sighs, "I'm the old one here, I should be having the ear problems."

"Yeah, I heard, but-"

"If you did, listen to me some more, kid. With the way you're thinking right now, you're going to end up getting yourself killed. Fast."

"What do you-"

"Your fight with that Beastkin earned you some money, too, so you could keep sustaining yourself with that girl." again Master looks at Amira then back to me.

"My name is Amira! Amira Blackedge, you old fart."

"Old fart?" he breaks into a laugh, "Alright, I know I said I was old but not THAT old." he acknowledges her with a chuckle.

"You're saying what I was about to do was reckless, right?"

"Good boy."

"But you trained me, you know what I can do, what in this town could possibly-"

"Them." he outstretched his hand, pointing to the other end of the street. I follow his line of sight to the other end to see knights. Wearing armor. The helmets have 'slits' where ears protrude. Wait a sec, are those cat ears? For some reason the look familiar. "They're called the Order of Grimhekala."

Oh, that's where I heard it from. If I remember right, they're supposed to be doing border control in the port cities and further down south to stop pirates from causing their assorted chaos. It'd make sense that they were here.

"Wait a second. If they're supposed to stop this kind of chaos, why are these slaves being sold in Hydewell? That doesn't make any sense." I hound back to my Master because there was no other outlet.

"Key word being 'supposed' to." he sighs in disappointment.

"Corrupted, aren't they?"

"As all men with power eventually become, yes." for some reason, I feel some deprecation in that sentence. I don't choose to pursue because my Master already has a bleak past.

"So you're saying trying to rescue them would have resulted in me being killed."

"Yeah, Lyle. You're not invincible. Your choices have a lot of weight to them… don't forget that." he pats me affectionately on the shoulder while starting to walk away.

"Wait a second, how did you know I was going to be here in Hydewell?"

"You sent a letter telling me you were coming back, remember?"

Wait, I did, didn't I…?

"Now that I see you're well, you don't need me hanging around."

"One last question…"

"Yeah?" he turns back.

"Where are you going?"

"To see an old pupil of mine. She went off on her own around the same time you did… saying something about 'I can't let him surpass me'."

I know the only person that can be.

[_] Let me come with you, Master.
[_] Alright, I wish you the best.
[_] Follow after him without telling him.
[_] Custom

 

[kinglugia]

[X] Let me come with you, Master.

 

[Be;lanSniper]

[X] Let me come with you, Master.

 

[neobowman]

[X] Let me come with you, Master.

 

[kinglugia]

[X] Let me cum with you, Master.

 

[Silversun17]

[X] Let me cum with you, Master.

Click to shrink...

*slaps*

 

[BFldyq]

[X] Alright, I wish you the best.

 

[Reverent One]

"Let me come with you, Master." I actually haven't seen that 'girl' ever since I left for Euraia when I was eighteen.

"What? We're going with him?" Amira seems surprised. Oh well, she's been taken off guard a lot lately. Guessing because she's never actually seen the world and all its commodities.

"Do what you want." he just walks on as if I didn't even ask him anything. I look to Amira and wave her to follow with my hand. Not much comes from her mouth except unintelligible displays of frustration.

"So you came to just check up on me when I got to Hydewell?"

"Yeah, that was it." he looks at me with a smile. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little worried."

"You worry?" my eyes shoot open, "You always seemed so together in the past."

"Old men know the oldest tricks." By that I'm guessing that he's used to keeping his emotions subdued. It makes sense if you think about it. He practices the art known as 'Spirit Fist' or 'Aether Fist', depending on what you want to call it. It depends on the user being calm, having control and utilizing the Aether within one's body as a weapon of defense and physical might. That's what I used back there against that Beastkin brute Geisus. If I didn't stay focused then that fight wouldn't have turned out the way it had. "Though sometimes it wears on you."

"What do you mean by that?"

"It means that his brittle bones start to give and he can't walk anymore." I appreciate Amira trying to translate my Master's vague dialogue. I praise her by patting her on the head.

"Thanks for trying." my head hangs.

"The girl's right… ahhhh." an exaggerated groan. "Lyle… c-catch me, I can't stand." then he falls backward without any warning.

"W-whoa!" I'm quick to bend down on the ground to assist him. "What are you doing!?"

"Myyyy bonessss." as my obviously able Master complains about his decrepit bones, people are starting to stare at us in the middle of the street. "Lyle, my boy, please help fulfill one last reque-AGH."

I throw my fist into his back to get him to stand up. "No, get up."

"What are you doing, abusing an old man like that!?" one woman screams.

"What's wrong with you, kid?" another man joins in.

"Respect your elders!" a third voice jumps into the fray.

"You guys don't understand, he's just faking it!"

I hear footsteps as I turn around to confront the enraged three-person mob. I turn around to see my Master being assisted by Amira.

"Owwww." he does his best impression of an old man while being hunched over. Instead of playing along with this farce, I sigh and walk on ahead. "Ah, come on Lyle, it's just a bit of fun." he says as he catches up to me.

"I forgot I'm always the butt of the joke."

"I know, isn't it great?"

"Hilarious." my voice is as deadpan as it'll get.

"Well it won't be getting any better when we meet 'her'."
"I expect her to have some note of maturity."
"You'd be surprised."

"I'm out of the loop. I don't like being out of the loop." Amira thrusts her head into the conversation, timidly looking between myself and Zeppelin.

"I don't think I can just talk about this person to you. I'll have to introduce you. Come on." I take Amira's hand so she doesn't wander away, "Master, lead the way. This time no terrible jokes."

"No promises!" he exclaims as he walks on his way.

The two of us follow.
______________________________________________________

Hydewell - The Banded Drum

…

What we come to isn't what I expected. It's a bar named the 'Banded Drum' with different sorts of people throwing themselves around in the middle of the afternoon. Dwarves, Beastkin, Humans, Elves, any sort of race you'd find in a populated town is here having the time of their lives.

The bar itself is rather modest. It has plywood floors, a scattered assortment of chairs and tables, and a large bar to accommodate plenty of people. The lively atmosphere just makes me smile. "It's been a while since I've seen anything like this."

"Great, isn't it?" my Master looks around, savoring the 'feeling' of the place with a goofy smiel.

"Yeah." Something tugs on my arm. I look down to see that Amira is doing her best to get away. "What's wrong"

"I want to have some fun too. I want to join in."

"Have you… been to a place like this before, Amira?"

"Yeah, I have, a few months ago, actually. Though I never got to participate in them. I was mostly treated like a pet. They even had me on all fours."

My heart sinks.
Again, that isn't right.

The more I think about it, the more fired up I get about that sight in the city. Those girls will never be able to experience this freedom.

I know I won't accomplish much by myself.
I know I want to live a peaceful life as a traveler to stop monsters from gathering in places where they don't need.

But.. I still feel like I have to do something.

"You're making that face again!" Amira happily points out while she pulls my chin. "Stop making it. You're worrying me."

"I won't." I wave her hand off so I can actually feel my cheek once again. "Just relax, alright? You don't have to do anything humiliating anymore. You're your own person."

"I am?" it seems like this idea was a completely new concept to her.

"Yes, you are, do what you want."

"But my last name is still Blackedge. That means you own me!"

"No, it doesn't. Just think of me as family."

"Family…? Do families still-"

"No." I cut that train of thought into a detour into something much less perverted.

"Actually some do." the man of logic, the man of reason offers his two cents. "It's called inbreeding. Or incest. Forget the real definition."

"Okay, I'm just going to walk over to the bar now. Amira, Master, catch up, get to know each other." I start to walk toward the bar as I said. Then at the last second I turn around, "Do not give her anything too strong."

"You've got my word as your Master." Zeppelin gives me a thumbs up.

It's all coming back to me.
The practical jokes.
The gimmicks.
My training.

Yeah, that's Zeppelin Ulrich alright. There's no confusing the genuine article.

"Ughhh, Master, at least mature a bit." I take a seat at the bar while mumbling obscenities that I really shouldn't. "Hey." I talk to the person next to me. "How's your day going? Probably better than mine."

"Is it really that bad?" a feminine voice.

"Yeah, ran into someone from the past that I started respecting then that all went down the drain." I sigh.

Though I guess I still respect him as my Master and 'father figure'. That's besides the point, though, if he just kept himself together instead of just toying with me, our conversations would actually go somewhere.

"That's really too bad." that soft voice sounds really familiar. "Maybe you shouldn't be so hard on them? You do seem like the critical type."

"You can tell that just from speaking to me for two seconds?"

"Nope!" I can now put the voice to a face.

A Beastkin girl with purple hair, protruding ears and baggy pants.

"Cassandra!"

Hah, I really did know the voice!

"Yep yep, it's me. At least I think so." she smiles wryly, "How are you doing, little brother?"

"I just said how I was doing." I return her smile with one of my own. "Master is still up to his old tricks again. Forcing me to deal with them."

"Ahhhh, sounds like him." she turns her red-eyes to the other side of the bar. Amira is sitting down with her hands placed on her lap. Master is talking with the bartender, laughing about something that must be funny to them.

Now I really feel bad for leaving Amira with Zeppelin.

[_] Hey Cassandra, I want to introduce you to someone.
[_] I can just leave the two of them be. Maybe Amira will have fun too?
[_] Cassie. Drinking contest. How about it?
[_] Custom

 

[Silversun17]

[X] Hey Cassandra, I want to introduce you to someone.

 

[neobowman]

[X] Cassie. Drinking contest. How about it?

 

[kinglugia]

[X] Cassie. Drinking contest. How about it?

 

[Be;lanSniper]

[X] Cassie. Drinking contest. How about it?

 

[Reverent One]

"Cassie." I lean down to look her in the face, "drinking contest like old times. How about it?" I was feeling a bit generous that I'd buy us the rounds we'd need for the contest. Plus my older sister was here. Why wouldn't I want to best her at something?

"Now isn't a good time."

"Huh?" now that, I admit, took me off guard. She was always the one pushing me to have contests with her just to see which of the two of us was better at something. Like if I managed to chop a piece of wood in half with my fists, I'd run excitedly over to Cassie going "I did it, I did it! Let's see who can do it better!"

Of course, Cassie was always better. She's a Beastkin, I'm a Human but that never stopped us.

Who could swim faster? Who could jump the farthest? Who could cook food faster? That's the kind of relationship we had growing up. We became closer. Because of that, we became brother and sister.

Obviously, not by blood… but because our families were no longer around, we looked to each other for strength.

Zeppelin was both our Master and father figure. Hm, yeah, that Zeppelin that I just met for the first time in a while is the same person that taught us, raised us when we had nowhere to go.

For that, I respect him. No, I do love him as a father. More so than the man I used to call my 'old man'.

"Lyle." Cassie brings me back to reality.

"Yeah?" I sit down at the bar. "What's on your mind?"

"Oh, nothing"

"Liar." I immediately denounce her attempt to try hiding her emotions from me. ESPECIALLY from me.

"Ah right, can't lie to you, always have to tell the truth." she puts her elbows on the countertop with this sullen look on her face. "I'm just mad."

"About?"

"The current situation." Since I've been here for only under an hour, I don't have the full idea of what's going on here. If I can hazard a guess, though…

"Does it have to do with the Order of Grimhekala?" I ask while leaning in. Can't have any 'undesirable' people trying to censor the conversation. I don't know how much influence the Order has but if it's anything like I've heard about from the Church of the Saint in Lorelai, I have to be careful. "I know I've been in Euraia for the past three years so I'm slow on the uptake."

"Yeah, but not just them."

"Not just them?"

"You know of the Fragment Drought, right?" That would be the stagnated formation of 'elemental fragments' from the planet in a designated area for long periods of time. Though people say this 'drought' is much different than the ones experienced in the past.

"Yeah, I know about it. Why do you ask?"

"And the return of the 'pirate culture' that made Blackmoore… Blackmoore?" She's giving me a general history review.

"Yeah, I know Blackmoore was founded as a haven for pirates but since then changed into something with popular commerce. And slaves." Had to mention that last one.

"Good, then I can make this quick. The Order's original mission was to keep the growth of the 'Blackmoore Pirates' from doing business in the southern countries in Ethona." Cassie sighs deeply, "They were SUPPOSED to be contained in the Erealoth Sea."

"You just said 'supposed' to be… I'm guessing things didn't go that smoothly?"

"No, they didn't." now my sister starts scratching the surface of the countertop in agitation. "The Fragment Drought put a stop to that. Not immediately, of course, but due to lack of resources to continue fighting off the pirates, the Order 'settled' an agreement with the pirates to pay tributes instead of fighting them off."

"So the Order is paying the pirates a due for money that they would get from trading with the nations below?"

"That was the idea. Guess what?"

"It didn't work and corruption started."

"Ye- wait, how'd you guess?"

"If there's something involving money- and a lot of it, and there's a way that two parties can decide to gain from it. You're going to get corruption." That and gut instinct with all this 'slave trading' going around. My little guess is that it has to do with the return of the 'pirate culture' that Cassie mentioned. "So you're bugged by it?"

"Of course I am. Shit like this can't go unchecked."

"I agree, but what will you be able to do?"

"Nothing by myself." a smile appears on her face.

"By 'yourself'... Let me guess, Master is here to help you out?"

"You'd be right, bro." Ah. Ah, yes.

This would probably be that moment where I can blame my terrible luck for pulling me into something bigger than I actually am. "You want Amira and I to help, don't you?"

Nod, nod. Of course. She may be my older sister but she's still incredibly simple-minded. "What do you say?"

Puppy-dog eyes. Yeah, she pulled those out.

What do I say to this?

[_] Cassie may be simple-minded but she normally thinks things like this through. Tell me what you're real reasoning behind this is?
[_] I was thinking about destroying this little 'slave trade train' anyway so count me in.
[_] I'm sorry Cassie, but I can't. I have a responsibility to take care of Amira now.
[_] Custom