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Crystals of Tame
Chapter 18
The incident
9 years ago
Emira watched as her husband, the king of Traineria, left for the south again, just as he had every day for the past two years.
She closed the curtains from her bedroom and let out a sigh.
“My queen...” a maid said as she entered her room.
“The young prince has awakened.”
“I’ll be there in a second,” she said,
“Understood my queen,” the maid said, bowing before the queen of Traneria and closing the door behind her.
“Does he not understand that him going to the South every day is dangerous for both him and our people,” she said, frustrated at the fact that he seemed so preoccupied with the South lately. What would the citizens of our kingdom say? Why couldn’t he understand that he was putting his reputation and the safety of their kingdom in jeopardy?
She understood that the association was created for all guilds to come together and let go of their differences, which she was glad for, and she was glad for Villa being picked as the director as well. Even though she didn’t understand much about the association, or tamers. She had no interest in taming, finding it at times to be violent, as well as finding some of the monster partners scary, especially the advanced-level ones. They weren’t cute like the novice-level ones. Why couldn’t he let Villa deal with the south? why did he have to go? What was he hiding from her?
“Please look after him, Crystalia, our mother,” she said, frustrated, as she prayed to the holy mother of all citizens of Traineria.
***
The king of Traineria arrived at the stone guild, setting his Gryphon down on the stone pavement.
“My king,” one of the knights said as he got off the Gryphon.
“Yes, Kain?” he asked, knowing full well what his trusted knight commander was going to ask.
“Is it wise for you to keep coming to the south, I worry about your safety, these southern people don’t follow the same laws as we do,” Kain said, taking his helmet off, and revealing a full set of wavy light brown hair.
“You worry too much, my dear commander,” the king said, placing his hand on Kain’s shoulder, reassuring the newly appointed Knight commander that it was perfectly safe for him to be in the south, they were after all, friends to him or so he liked to believe considering he had been
coming to the South for two years now.
“Just in time,” Roth said, coming out of the Rock Shield guild.
“Ah! My friend,” the king said, walking toward him, and hugging him, these past two years, he and Roth had gotten closer, it almost felt like Roth was a brother now, which in a way he was. For only they knew of what was at stake. Plus Roth's exterior had changed, he almost seemed more approachable now.
“Ready for our lesson today?”
“Sure, is that what you want to call it,” Roth said, scuffing at the king, he still was of the mindset of not liking what he couldn’t punch through a wall with his fist, and this was exactly that.
He didn’t know what he had gotten himself into, but there was no point in going against his mother. And what he saw that day, two years ago, was proof enough for him to go along with it.
“Shall we,” Roth said, taking two orange crystals from his pocket. A light magic circle shot out from them, and two Bulquakes appeared in front of them. Their dark upper bodies were covered in brown stone armor.
“I see the newly enhanced crystal have made their way to the south,” the king said,
“They are stronger than the previous ones. Made possible thanks to the taming energy in the crystals which make a circle appear before them, brought to you by Dr. Spark.”
“I would sure like to meet this Dr. Spark,” Roth said, growing fascinated with him.
“You will,” the king said,
“Now shall we?”
Kain saw the king and Roth make their way toward Turtle Mountain, not liking it one bit, and wondering what was so important up there, not trusting Roth at all with the king’s safety. But he had no choice, the king’s words were absolute.
Roth looked back at the Trainerian knight's shielded faces, he could envision their stares of animosity toward him and his people.
“If only they knew,” he thought, almost wanting to laugh at the fact. He didn’t know if it was something that the people of Traineria, the south, or any citizen in Monsterra would believe, let alone understand.
***
The ride to the top of the mountain was the same as it had been every day for the king since he started coming here, two years ago. Yet, despite its familiarity, he still couldn’t get used to it, the harsh winds, the roughness of the Bulquakes ever so riding slowly up the mountain, and the feeling like he would fall at any moment. The only thing that had changed was the look of satisfaction on Roth’s face. He glanced over at him, there was a certain look of seriousness that had come from that day when Roth’s mother made them see that night again, which vividly hung on his mind. There wasn’t a night that didn’t go by where he didn’t see the crimson beast's lifeless body against the crystal of tame, laying there with no sign of life yet not quite dead.
“We're here,” Roth said, as they came to the entrance of the shrine.
“Meow,” the white and pink monster partner Mentacat said, yawning as it saw them arrive.
“Hello partner,” the king said smiling at it. He had gotten used to the mystic type by now, no longer finding it unsettling. In fact, he hoped to master a mystic monster partner of his own one day, they’re unique power was quite interesting to him.
“Shall we,” Roth said, as the two men followed the bipedal cat monster to where his mother was waiting for them.
“Ready for another lesson,” she said, grinning at them, as they came into view in front of her.
"Yes, mam,” the king said, there was a certain respect in his voice that if the citizens of Traineria were present to see, they would almost think of it as sacrilege, after all, he was the king of Traineria. But of course, if they knew what she was capable of, would they think of her as just another common person, or perhaps a monster? This gift of hers was something he had never read in any books in his library, and now, he needed to learn this gift from her, he needed to become what she was to save Monsterra from the fate the red night had opened at its doors.
“Well, take a seat, we don’t have all day, she said, smirking at them,
“Let’s just get this over with,” Roth said, as he sat down across from her.
“Is not so bad,” the king said, smiling as he sat next to Roth. They both look like two pupils waiting on their teacher’s teachings.
“Let us begin,” she said, extending her hands toward them. They both placed their hands on top of hers, gripping hers. Her Mentacat monster partner took a seat comfortably on her lap, its pink eyes began to glow as it looked at the two men.
“For the citizens of Monsterra, “ the king said, closing his eyes, as he began to adjust his breathing, mimicking hers, and letting her powers guide him like they did that day, when she showed him that nightmare once again.
Even though Roth had done this every day since that day her mother made them see what the king had seen along with Villa and Uriel that night, he still couldn’t get used to it. It was too unnatural for a man of his taste.
"Clear your mind and let my voice guide you,”
she said,
The king began to dream about the faces of his people that day, that fateful day that changed everything, the red night.
Their fears, suffering, and cries fuel his resolve.
And as he pictured the full moon with its red sky engulfing the city of Traineria as well as the lands of Monsterra, he was brought back to that night, just like he had been two years ago, when she worked her gift on him, transporting themselves to whatever this dream-like state was.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“Despite coming here every day, it still feels so surreal,” Roth said, as he looked at his hands, they were blurry and dreamlike, going in and out of focus like smoke being whisked away by the wind and brought back the second the wind had passed through.
“ I understand what you mean,” the king said, the area around them looked like the forest of Turtle Mountain, but it was different, it felt different.
“Let’s go,” Mystizia said, as she walked in front of them, and guided them toward their destination.
***
Kein looked at Turtle Mountain, its huge green body overshadowing the south. He didn’t know why the king had to travel up there, didn’t know why he would want to anyway. He simply didn’t trust the people of the south, even though they helped them that night when that crimson beast attacked Traineria two years ago.
Who was to say they didn’t send that beast themselves? After all, everyone knew that the South was no friend to Traineria. Jealous of their ability to harness the power of the crystal of tame like Traineria had, which had allowed them to master any monster partner they wanted to.
“Stay here, I’ll be back,” he said, as he got on top of his brown Gryphon,
“Sir,” one of the knights interjected,
“Do you think that is wise? The king gave us specific instructions to stay here.”
“Are you questioning your commander’s orders?” Kein said, he outranked them, and since the king wasn’t here, he was the highest in command.
“No sir,” the knight said, saluting him.
“Good, now stay here, I’m going to make sure the king is safe, I don’t trust this southern vermin,” he said, as his Gryphon took flight.
***
Kein found the ride to the top of the mountain to be brutal, no, that was not the correct word, he found it to be hellish. He couldn’t count the times he had almost fallen from his Gryphon, one wrong move and it would have been the end of him. He couldn’t believe that Roth would make the king travel such a dangerous road. As soon as he Roth, he was going to give him a piece of his mind.
“GRYPH!!” the Gryphon let out a cry as it began to twist
and turn, almost as if being spooked by something.
“Easy! Easy!” Kein said, trying to calm the Gryphon but it was no use, he found himself losing his grip on the reins of the spooked beast.
“STOP YOU DAMN MONSTER!”
Kein tried to retake command of the beast but it didn’t budge, something was spooking him for he had never seen a Gryphon react in this matter before. He looked at the ground and found that he could make the jump without getting hurt. He didn’t have time to rethink his decision, he needed to act fast before this monster sent him flying to his doom.
“GRYP!!!” the Gryphon said, twisting as if it was in pain. Kein jumped from it, and if he hadn’t in that second, the Gryphon would have crushed him as the beast shot its body straight to the side of the mountain, trying to crush whatever had spooked him.
“Stupid beast, what got into it,” Kein said, as he saw the beast fly away from the mountain.
He saw that he had landed on what appeared to be stairs, and began to walk up them.
With every step, his anger growing for Roth and the South.
***
“This thing still hasn’t moved,” Roth said, as he looked at the crimson beast on the ground, its body lay motionless as it had been two years ago when his mother showed them what shouldn’t be possible.
"Perhaps we haven’t gathered enough monster force to strengthen the king’s connection to
the sage of Nature in order for the sage to show us what we need to see” his mother said,
“The sage,” the king thought, as he recalled the
giant monster standing before him, remembering its pitch black
shape and its glowing green eyes looking straight at him. The sage of Nature, as she had called it.
“I thought maybe the connection to the monster force had been strengthened, “ she said,
“But monster force is tricky to gather.”
“Monster force?” Roth said, to think there was such a thing as that. A force of nature that bonded tamers and monsters together.
They all stared at the motionless body of the crimson beast, expecting it to move any second like it had moved that day. Expecting the words the king had heard that day to be spoken once again triggering the event the sage of Nature had protected the king from. To know what it was that they were trying to stop from happening.
“The pieces shall be whole again.”
The king had thought about those words ever since he heard them from the crimson beast that day, they haunted him like a nightmare that seemed everlasting, tormenting him at every second of his days.
“Let’s us go, for I fear there’s not much to see today,” Roth’s mother said, and as they were about to leave, the beast moved its right arm.
“The pieces….shall…. be whole….again,” it said underneath its breath, so faintly that only the king was able to hear its trembling words.
“THE PIECES SHALL BE WHOLE AGAIN!” it shouted, its voice distorted yet clear, and they all heard its words like cries in the night of people seeking help.
The crimson beast caught on fire and the fire spread all around them.
“WHAT THE!” Roth said as the fire consumed them.
“Don’t be afraid,” his mother said, as she stood ready to be engulfed by the fire.
And the next thing they saw were lands that seemed to spread endlessly, engulfed in fire, with cries crowding the sky as a red mood lit the night in red.
“THE PIECES SHALL BE WHOLE AGAIN!”
Those words cut through them like the razor-sharp wind blades from a typhoon that was coming their way.
“Is this?” the king asked, afraid of the answer.
“Monsterra,” Mystizia said,
“Or a future of it.”
Roth stood at a complete loss for words, they all did, as they watched lands, villages, towns, and cities burn all around them. Both human and monster partners alike engulfed by a sea of red.
“What is that?” the king said, pointing at four shadows that seemed to be standing underneath the fire as it burned through Monsterra.
“THE PIECES SHALL BE WHOLE AGAIN!”
The beast's words engulfed them all as the fire did to the lands of Monsterra. And in the night, they saw four dark lights burning bright: one of purple, one of green, one of orange, and the final one of red.
***
Kein saw three individuals sitting, two of them he recognized as the king and Roth but the third one he did not. She was old with white hair and pink braids running down the side of her face, with a small cat monster partner sitting on her lap with its bright pink eyes glowing.
They all seemed to be in a trance of sorts.
“What are you doing to the king,” he yelled, taking his sword out, but they did not move.
***
“What’s happening?” the king asked, as the world around them began to crumble and tear like a piece of paper.
“I don’t know,” Mystizia said,
“THE PIECES SHALL BE WHOLE AGAIN!” the words kept
shrieking on and on.
***
"My king wake up,” Kein said shaking the king, trying to get him to wake up, trying to take him away from these savages.
“The pieces shall be whole again,” the king whispered, and the words made Kein stop,
“AHH!” he screamed, as a shooting pain shouted out of his body, engulfing him and burning him to his very existence.
“MAKE IT STOP!” he shrieked as he fell to the floor,
his body burning with a fire of a thousand suns.
***
The king, Roth, and Mystizia opened their eyes, and they were back at the shrine.
“KEIN!” the king said as he saw his knight captain on the floor, wreathing in pain.
“DON’T TOUCH HIM!” Mystizia quickly said, something was wrong, something had accompanied them back that should have stayed in the visions.
“He’s been corrupted.”
“MAKE IT STOP!” Kein cried and his body flunked from the ground upward as it stood.
“ROCKEM! “ Roth said, taking out a taming device
from his bag. A rock body monster partner appeared in front of Roth.
“K…I…N…G!” Kein said but his voice was not his, it sounded a mixture of man and beast,
“RARG! he growled and jumped straight for the king.
“Rockem! Rock Thrust!” Roth commanded and the rock monster obeyed, jumping in the middle of the king and Kein.
But it was no use, for Kein slammed the rock monster Rockem to the side with ease, sending its body flying.
“KING!” Roth said, getting in front of the king, ready to protect him from whatever had taken control of Kein.
“MIND SHATER!” Roth’s mother said, and her cat monster obeyed, stopping Kein for a moment.
“I can’t hold him for very much longer,” his mother said,
“Go and take the king away,’
‘MOM!’ Roth said, looking at her and for the second time, she saw the frightening ten-year-old boy she had seen that day.
“Go, my son,” she said,
“Protect Monsterra. The both of you.”
Roth wanted nothing more than to stay and protect his mother from whatever possessed the Trainerian knight, but he knew he couldn’t, he had a role to fulfill.
“I promise,” Roth said, as he bid farewell to a mother he had regretted being scared of,
“Roth?” the king said,
“Let’s go your majesty,” Roth said grabbing his arm,
“NO!” the king yelled,
“ We can’t leave Kein and your mother…”
“STOP!” Roth said,
“Please…’
And for the first time, the king did not see the towering man that Roth was but a small child afraid and hurting.
“I….." the king tried to say, trying to find the right word to say at this moment, but found none.
He closed his eyes and nodded. They needed to escape it was the only way.
“AAAAAAAARG!” Kein said, letting out a roar, and breaking free of whatever grasped he found himself in.
He walked toward Myztisia, and looked at her, basking in her weakness.
“Menta!” Mentacat yelled as it got in the way, trying to protect her partner but Kein slammed the small monster partner to the side, crushing it.
“It’s too late old women,” Kein said in his voice, she understood, it was not his, whoever this man Kein had been was no more.
“The pieces shall be whole again,” he said, putting a finger on her forehead,
“May the ancient one guide me,” she said, closing her eyes,
He laughed as her body caught on fire, and a dark purple fire consumed everything in the shrine along with her.
***
The knights saw the smoke from the top of Turtle Mountain,
"My king!” they said getting on top of the Gryphons.
***
Roth and the king looked back and saw the shrine consumed by dark purple flames.
“I’m sorry Roth,” the king said,
“Let's keep going, we don’t have time for sorrow,” Roth said, he knew that right now was not the time to mourn his mother, no, right now was the time to run away and get far away from whatever had possessed Kein.
***
Kein ran swiftly right behind them, his body ached all over, but he knew that it would soon be over, once he did what he had to do. The person in his head had told him it would be fine once he did that.
“Found you!”
“Watch out!” Roth said, pushing the king off to the side. Klein grabbed Roth’s neck lifting him with ease.
“You will not interfere,” he said, his voice cracking in his mouth as if it was trying to escape him.
“Let go of me! You….monster,” Roth said, trying to break free from his grasp. Kein put his hand over Roth’s and grinned, basking in his superior strength over the towering man.
“Perish like your mother,” he said, and Roth felt his hand burn with a fire that seemed to burn down to his bones, yet he did not scream, for he did not want to give whatever this thing was the satisfaction of seeing him in pain.
“AHAAHA!” Kein laughed as Roth’s hand burned.
“STOP!” the king yelled,
“Let him go.”
Kein looked at him,
"S-Stop you idi….“ Roth tried to say, but the pain was too much for his words to make it out of his body, his right arm was being consumed by a fire that seemed to burn down to his very existence.
“I’m sorry,” the king said,
“I’m so sorry.”
The king walked toward Kein, he didn’t know what he was going to do, didn’t know if there was anything he could do to escape from the grasp of whatever had taken control of Kein. All he wanted was to seek knowledge about the crimson beast, to stop something like it from attacking his people and the people of Monsterra again. Did his pursuit of knowledge doom them all? Was he responsible for unleashing whatever this thing was? Kein dropped Roth and walked toward the king.
“Ru….n,” Roth tried to say, as he tried to get up from the ground, but it was no use, he had no strength left.
“Run, please.”
“Protect everyone, Roth, protect them all,” the king said, as Kein placed his hands on the side of his head, and looked straight at him, his once blue eyes began to turn into two black holes looking at Roth.
“The world shall return to its rightful king and it will burn to cinder as the darkness comes and his realm becomes his again.”
The king closed his eyes, and the faces of Emira and his son, Octavian, flashed before his eyes, as well as the people of Traineria, and the south and everyone that called Monsterra their home.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you all.”
“PROMISE ME YOU WILL PROTECT THEM ALL !” the king yelled as his mind felt like it was being engulfed in fire, melting inside of his body, yet he felt no pain.
***
The knights arrived at the gates of what had remained of the burned shrine.
“Stop, who goes there,” they said taking their swords out,
“It’s Roth.”
They saw Roth walking toward them, and in his arms a sleeping king lay.
Gryphon
Health - 90
Agility - 120
Strength - 98
Intelligence - 60
Vitality - 60
Endurance - 100
Monster Energy - 50
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