Luné Alpenglow
“-ash!” Luné slashed down, cutting into the captured slaver, who had thought it smart to return to the area. The Beastkin screamed out in pain, as Luné looked to Radoc for the next instruction, but he shook his head, annoyed. Luné felt miserable, this was keeping her mind off what made her feel this way, at least, but it was still pricking the back of her mind. Radoc approached, and then said, “Terrible form. Too bad we can’t use this one anymore, I would show you proper form on him.” Luné looks forward at the Beastkin, only to see a screen appear, saying:
Wayfinder Level 18 Defeated
+18 Experience
92/135 Experience to Level 33
Luné begins putting away the dagger, as Radoc continues, “Perhaps you should have a training area set up, my Lady.” Luné nods quietly, her misery slowly starting to take over again. Radoc is ignoring this, and simply speaks in his calm tone, “You can leave, Sproutlings.” The Sproutlings begin wandering off, leaving the two to their training. One drags the corpse with it, watched by Radoc, as it wanders away. Luné is silent, not knowing if she should talk to Radoc or someone else. She soon decides she will talk to someone else, likely Koto and Miyoshi, and begins to walk away. Radoc looks at her, and says in a stern tone, “Did you think training was over? Get back here, you need to be prepared to defend yourself at all times. To do su-” Luné cuts him off with a tired and sad tone, “Not right now, Radoc.” Radoc he’s silent, letting her walk off.
Luné walks quietly, finding herself near the Smithy, where Hammerer was still going. With each strike of the hammer, Luné felt a jolt through herself. She began to walk away from the area, not wanting to deal with the loud smacking of metal on metal. Luné walks to the front of the house, and turns the corner, finding a few wolves relaxing on the grass. She ignores them, entering the house, and walking to the Siblings room. She finds no one there, and turns to leave, walking away again. As she exits the room, however, she finds Cloud following her. She looks at Cloud, a sad look on her face, and Cloud’s tail ceases moving. The Wolf starts to walk up to Luné, who stares at her silently. Planting her large fluffy head against Luné’s stomach, Luné does not react. Luné feels nothing from this, only the light force of the planting and the subsequent pressure pushing against her.
Luné remains silent, unsure of what to say or do, until she hears a voice, young and boyish, “Miss Luné?” Luné looks up, seeing Koto, standing alone and confused. Cloud turns her head to look at Koto, then starts to walk off, letting Koto take over, as Luné speaks in her somber tone, “I need to ask you some things.” Koto blinks, then nods, and walks over, “Let's talk in the room.”
Kaede
Kaede happily walked into the City of Homrhi. The massive gate remained open, as it had been when they arrived, and the Dwarves that guard it return to their posts, letting the caravan that arrived just after her, finish entering as well. Kaede looked at Grolit, who was walking proudly and happily. Plenty of nearby Dwarves and Gnomes watched the Black Cat and Head Blacksmith, curious about their relation as they walked together. Kaede took in the sight, something even she had never thought of. A hollowed out mountain, with hundreds of thousands of metal beams holding its form together. High above, she could even barely make out the ant-like specks of workers maintaining the metal infrastructure. The buildings on the other hand, were all uniform and rigid, made of stone with copper pipes running between them. Lamps hung from poles along the road, keeping light for travelers and those less fortunate in the ways of vision. The city itself was massive. Spanning the entire mountain’s width and length. Hundreds of thousands of Dwarves and Gnomes lived here, and she could tell. There were plenty walking nearby, going about their business.
Kaede smiled at this marvel of engineering, or possibly magic, and spoke, “Are all Dwarven cities like this?” Grolit chuckles happily, and cheerfully speaks his response, “Mos’, bu’ no’ all! Aye, many’re like this, bu’ many more ‘re normal cities made by tha Hill Dwarves!” Kaede nods slowly, then asks the next question on her mind, “How are the metal supports set into place? Magic or mechanics?” Grolit grins happily, “When we were makin’ tha place, we made tha suppor’s in sec’ions. Sed’em up, an’ magicked’em tagether.” Kaede has the mental image of what was described, and she grins enjoying the thought. If only she had been there, she would have written down everything that happened. As the two near a streetlamp, she speaks, realizing something curious, “These lamps. They do not have candles in them. How are they getting light? Are they enchanted items?” Grolit shakes his head, grinning still as he says, “Nay! I’ll tell ya more when we get ta tha Smithy!” Kaede looks at him, smiling, as she walks, curious and willing to learn.
Jazak Forgeson
Jazak exits the Forge, having arrived and dealt with the first set of business he needed to tend to. Holding the small slip of paper, he begins walking back to Nurud’s store. As he walks, he glances at the people watching him as they pass by in their walks. Their faces show their admiration and excitement at seeing him, reminding him of his hatred of the Heroes’ eyes. Those selfsame eyes that allowed him to see their admiration and excitement. He did not deserve it, thus he despised it.
He could see a few groups of non-Dwarves and non-Gnomes. Nothing extremely special, just Beastkin and Dracenewts. He began to pass by a Dracenewt, taking a nice look at the Dwarf of the Dracan. The poor Dracenewt shuffled away quickly, clearly nervous about his gaze. Another reason to hate the Heroes’ eyes. He walked calmly and quietly, soon arriving at the gate to the underground. Plenty of others were going down, sliding what looked to be clockwork cards through slots designed for them. He pulled out his own, which was more intricate and flashy, thanks to the Gnome Craftsman who made it knowing he was making it for a Hero. Yet more reason to hate the Heroes’ eyes.
He slides the card in the slot, and he hears the mechanism within whirr to life, slinging open the Dwarf-sized gate in front of him. Though there was space above, he was happy to not jump the gate, as he entered, and glanced over to the booth. There a Gnome was taking coins, and handing tickets out, then letting the individual through. There were plenty in that line, from Dwarves and Gnomes, to even an Elf Huntress, gathering coins from her newly laden coin purse. Though most ignored the Elf, he decided not to, and walked over to the booth instead of down into the underground. He called out, “Elf! C’me ‘ere!” The Gnome in the booth walked over to see the disturbance beside her booth, and looked out and down to Jazak, who looked up. She startles, and says, “Oh! My apologies Hero, I was about to be rude. If you wish to pay for the Elf, then I will take the pay now.”
Jazak nods, then hands up his card, “Get o’er ‘ere, Elf!” He waves a hand, beckoning her over. She begins walking over, confused and baffled that a Dwarf of all people is supposedly helping her out. The Boothmistress returns Jazak’s card soon enough, and the gate beside them opens. “You’re all good. In you go.” The Elf timidly enters, looking at Jazak, curiously. He frowns at her, and then says, “Jus’ ‘elpin’ ou’. Reminded me o’ my ol’ party.” He starts heading down the stairs, the Elf following as she asks in disbelief, “You were in a party with an Elf?” Jazak nods in response, answering as he does, “Aye. In a goo’ moo’ taday, since she invi’ed me o’er ta tha Elf Queendom. Fel’ like ‘elpin’ one o’ ‘ers.” The Elf nods, and speaks in a grateful tone, “Thank you, Sir Dwarf. I’m Alais Valnana, wandering Huntress.” Jazak nods, then answers, “Barbarian Jazak Forgeson.” Alais was startled suddenly, “Y- You mean that Jazak!?” Jazak stops and looks at her with a raised eyebrow, “Aye, wha’s so s’range ‘bout mee’in’ ya Princess’ Dwarf frien’?”
Luné Alpenglow
“I think I messed up, Koto,” Luné says in a depressed tone. They were sitting on the bed, side by side. Koto was staring at her, listening, as she was looking down at the floor. He was quiet for a second, then spoke, “Why do you think that?” Luné is silent, as she thinks of what to say, and then she says it, “I think I pushed Sebastia away. I think I made her angry, or maybe made her hate me. I think she’s lost faith in me as a leader.” Koto is silent, contemplating this, and as he does, Luné starts to feel even worse, her mind spiraling, and her thoughts telling her that she shouldn’t have come to Koto to talk. Koto speaks, a calm and warm tone permeating his voice, easing a small bit of her fears, “I don’t think that’s the case. She cares for you, and everyone here after all. She might be upset, but I doubt she hates you now. Can you tell me what happened in detail?”
Luné nods, and explains what happened, causing Koto to be a bit surprised. He then says, “She probably thinks you’re a hypocrite.” Luné looks at Koto confused and upset at being called a hypocrite, “What? How?” Koto repeats words that Luné spoke to him and Miyoshi, but in a far calmer tone, “‘I cannot just kill all five because I want to take revenge. That would make me just like them.’ You said that to me and Miyoshi, but then you went and turned around, wanting to kill the other four. That’s very hypocritical. Sure, it was true, but at the same time, you said it would make you just like them. Sure, it’ll make you feel better, but I have one thing to ask instead of trying to console you or put you on a path. What do you think you need? Not what the others want you to do. Do you need to kill them to feel better? Or are you just throwing your anger in a direction that feels justifiable?”
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Luné looks at him, confused and quiet. He continues, clearly a little embarrassed, “Teacher told me something similar once. It kinda stuck, but I never really knew what to do with it. Maybe it’ll help you.” He stands up and starts walking away, “I’ve gotta get back to Miyoshi. She isn’t vomiting anymore, but I’m a little worried she might try eating random berries again.” He exits the room, leaving Luné to stew in his words. Thinking to herself silently. She soon puts her face in her hands, quiet and disheartened still. But she was thinking on those words. Trying to apply them to herself.
Kaede
Kaede walked with Grolit, happy to follow. He walked towards a weird sloping building, which seemed to be an entrance down underneath the city. She can see a line of people, standing beside a booth and gate. There were Dwarf-sized gates, with strange slits in them. As a Dwarf approaches one, they pull out a strange clockwork card, and slide it through a slit. The gate slings open, and the Dwarf enters through it. Grolit approaches the Booth and lets the most recent person, a Boar Beastkin, finish talking to the Gnome inside the booth. As the Beastkin goes through the gate that opens, the Gnome speaks, “Hello! What can I do for you, Head Blacksmith?” Grolit speaks, “I’ve go’ a gues’. She fine ta go throu’ tha ga’e I ‘ake?” The Gnome nods, answering with a happy tone, “As long as you hand her your card to use, once you are through.”
Grolit nods, and heads for a gate, doing the same as the Dwarf before him, and then enters. As the gate closes, he turns and holds out the very fancy clockwork card, prompting her to ask a question while taking it, “What is this fancy contraption?” As she does the same as Grolit, he answers, “It’s a Bank Clockcard. It ‘olds informa’ion, ‘ich is then transferred inta tha machine, allowin’ it ta figur’ ou’ where it nee’s ta ge’ tha coin from. It's a major par’ o’ Dwarven cities. Ya ei’er pay with coin to a teller, er use a Bank Clockcard.” Kaede nods quietly, examining the Clockcard before handing it back to Grolit.
Kaede smiles widely, very excited and happy to be learning, “Very interesting.” Grolit grins and chuckles, “Tha’ ain’t tha ‘alf o’ it! Yer gonna love ‘is nex’ par’.” He begins walking down the stairs, Kaede following with intrigue written on her face. Soon they find themselves off the stairs, seeing a room filled with hundreds of people. Grolit wanders to the front of the room, followed by Kaede, and when they get past the people, he points out the rails on the stone floor below them. He then speaks loudly, making sure his voice can be heard by Kaede over all the noise, “This ‘ere’s a subway! We’ve go’ trains runnin’ 24/7 down ‘ere!” Kaede looks confused, and speaks, just as loud, “Would that not suffocate everyone!? Trains run on coal!” Grolit’s face reveals she’s incorrect in this case, and his silence on the matter irritates her slightly. But soon enough, she hears a voice that is louder than the commotion, “Train B12, arriving in station, please back away from the tracks. Again, Train B12, arriving in station, please stand back.” No one moves from the tracks, knowing they are all safe, but Kaede is confused and concerned as she realizes no one is moving.
A few seconds later, she can hear the screeching of metal wheels coming to a halt, and the train can be seen entering the station. It looks rather strange, but she can still tell it is a train of some kind. Just flatter and bulkier. She’s quiet as the train comes to a stop, and the doors on its sides open. Many people begin getting on the train, and Kaede was confused by the fact that Grolit was not. Grolit calls up to her, “We’re wai’in’ fer B14! We’ll be ‘ere fer a bit!” Kaede nods, still confused, but understanding. It was time to wait.
???
“Commander?” He looks to his right, away from Sebastia and the small fire pit. He sees the crystalline opal hair and wings, which sat on the side of her head. She was in a set of leather armor, her staff sitting on her back, as she tilted her head in confusion at the sight. He smiles at her, and nods, “Hello. Come to watch over the soon to be Avatar of Order?” She walks over and takes a seat near him, but not close, “No, I was just flying about. I did not expect to see you. I thought you were letting your men watch this World?” He nods quietly, then says, “I was, but when the man who gave you your powers tells you to protect the Rook on the board, though you yourself are but a Knight, you have to follow.” She nods quietly, understanding the chess analogy.
She calmly watches Sebastia, and he begins to speak again, “If you do not mind it, would you like to take over? I do have some business I have yet to complete in other Worlds. This is the perfect time, while I am off the grid.” She looks over, and then nods, “Sure. I can do that.” He smiles and begins getting up. He then speaks in his calm tone, “Alright then. I’ll leave her to you. Good luck, keep her safe.” The woman nods, and he begins walking, leaving the area. As he walks, he begins to think of his next destination. Then he speaks, “Willow. Destination, Acre Demonis. We’re going to check up on how the Villainess is doing. See if the Hero has pulled her back yet. Time Dilation is necessary. I want to be there a year after our previous visit.” A happy, and girlish voice is heard in his ear, “Aye aye, Commander General! Slash when ready!” He draws his blade, and readies to slash the air. After a second, he raises the blade, and slashes forward, ripping a hole into the world. A rift sits in front of him, and he fearlessly steps through, letting it close behind himself.
Sebastia Rin
“The finale has just finished. A tale of sacrifice, are you capable of the same choice as him,” Clover asks, smiling at Sebastia. Sebastia is silent for a few seconds, then says, “Yes. I am. I’m ready.” Clover holds a hand towards a mural that was just finishing forming. On it, a man with black draconic wings holds a sword to the sky, in the middle of an angered yell. The sword is bursting with holy light, and the people standing behind him look shocked. Sebastia notices two of the people behind him are the two Dragonesses she had seen in her last trial, confusing her. She looks at the other side of the mural, finding it to have a shocked man in dark and demonic armor, and a good few other people. The door begins to materialize, and Sebastia begins walking to it. She opens it, and enters.
As everything comes back to her, she realizes she is someone else, and she knows what she must do, as memories suddenly flood her rapidly. Just flashes, but enough to know who she is currently. He is Cor Avas Mirak. The good Mirak. The only of his brood to have walked a good path. So much so that he has even managed to help change his broodsister’s path, after meeting her once again. He was holding his sword above him, and he yelled out, “I will not let you harm them! I will not back down! So come at me, Dark Lord Sorin!” He saw the Dark Lord grimace at the holy light coming from the Starblade. Sorin throws his hand forward, “Kill that insufferable Dragon!” His minions rush forward, and Cor throws himself forward, drawing the blade down into a ready position. He rushes the minions, each beastly and destructive. He slashes through several, and clashes blades with a few others. As the first wave of enemies is dealt with, he remembers what Snow, the Sleepy Witch, had said, “You must get the Starblade into Sorin’s body. That is the only way to remove his barrier, permanently.”
As the second wave neared, he heard a voice, the oh so irritating Royal Dragoon, “I’m not letting you fight this alone, you damn Mirak!” The orange and yellow winged Azyt Dragoness rushes past, her spear and shield in hand, with her sword sheathed. She clashes with a few of the monsters, blocking and stabbing them, taking no damage from their claws, even if she had no armor, as they scratch where her scales should be. Cor runs forward, slashing a few more, as magic begins impacting other monsters. Glancing back, he can see the perpetually unkillable Dragoness holding up her hands, expending her oh so important mana. Behind the small Dragoness, he can see the Priestess tending to the injuries of the flame-winged Courier and others. He hears a loud bang, and looks to his right, seeing a woman with a strange mask, and red eyes. She is crouched behind cover, her long bayoneted rifle firing blood-red projectiles with each pull of the trigger.
He stopped suddenly, feeling a presence appearing in front of him. He sees two tower shields plant themselves on the ground, and then chuckles as he sees the dark brown hair, and caring look of Guildmaster Imros. He can’t help but smile at the masculine human, as they yell out, “Stay behind me! I’ll get you up there! Etris, now!” Cor looks down, seeing the small roughly three foot Synthetic. It moves swiftly, rushing around Imros’ shields, and raising its arms, causing loud cracks and bangs, as it begins firing at the monsters, while Imros starts running forward. Cor follows behind Imros, hearing a voice coming up behind him, feminine and pissed off, “Let’s beat this bastard’s ass, Cor!” Looking behind himself, he sees the half-blood, her face serious and angry. He can understand her anger, as Sorin’s Legion had harmed her little sister, and in front of them both at that. He felt his anger begin to boil up again, and he was ready to kill Sorin with Alyas’ assistance.
As Imros got to the stairs, a woman suddenly appeared to the side of them, taking Imros with her as she went past. Undeterred by the appearance of the Vampiric Beast Mistress, Cor continues charging, seeing a straight path to the Dark Lord. The fight was chaotic, but Cor and Alyas were approaching Sorin, who raised his sword in response. Clashing once, Cor is kicked away, and feels the sword pierce his shoulder. Backing away, as Alyas takes the next strike at Sorin, he reaches for his shoulder, seeing it bleeding, and then realizes what was about to happen. He looks up, and as the sword is about to be thrust forward into Alyas’ back, as she spins from the force of the parry, he rushes forward, using his wings to get just that little bit more speed, and he feels the sword pierce his stomach. Grabbing onto it, he can hear Alyas cry out behind him, “Cor!” Cor does not look behind himself, and coughs up a small bit of blood, as he says, “Checkmate.” He thrusts the Starblade forward, causing a shattering sound, and Sorin screams out in pain.
Ripping the blade out, Cor feels himself getting colder, his pain disappearing, as he is kicked by Sorin. He no longer has the Starblade in his hand, and he falls to the ground a good distance away. He feels the world going dark, and Sebastia realizes this is the last moments of this dream. No matter who takes the lead, heroes sacrifice themselves in the end. She did the same before already, after all. Sacrificing herself to the tower. She sees Alyas’ approaching, a hand on her stomach, she is yelling out, “Cor! Cor!” She crouches down, and Sebastia can see tears welling up in her eyes, “Cor! Don’t close your eyes! Help is on its way!” Sebastia does not know what to say, as Cor. After all, she does not have the same experiences. At least not fully. So she lets Cor pass on without words, as she hears Alyas call out, “Wait! Cor! Please, no! Don’t do this! Don’t leave us! Don’t leave me!” And with those last words, it was quiet.
Sebastia knows the test was over, but she kept her eyes closed, thinking to herself about Enna. Knowing that Enna had said the same thing, but in a different way. Yet she still had gone to the tower, and sacrificed herself. Enna had bargained, thinking of ways to ensure her best friend would not need to sacrifice herself, but Sebastia had always planned on it. After all, she was a hero. And a hero is someone who does the right thing, and protects as many lives as possible. Not everyone is a good hero, and she knows she definitely isn’t the paragon she holds herself to be. She still tries though, and she begins to sit up, opening her eyes.
She finds herself sitting in front of an unlit campfire, a Freeborne sitting across from her. The Freeborne’s hair was crystalline and an opal color. She was wearing leather armor, and was staring silently at Sebastia. The wings on the sides of her head reveal her to be an Etherling, the rarest kind of Freeborne. Sebastia looks around, dazed and confused. She didn’t feel any different, she didn’t know where she was, and she knew that she was unarmored. Looking to her equipment, and then the Freeborne she asks the first question, as she squints her eyes in suspicion, “Who are you?”