“I'm here to save you”
At these words, This man covered in rags swings his sword upwards, slicing straight through this golem's mossy right arm. The golem stumbles backward, taken aback by the human's swift slash. The man in rags quickly grabs Eiko and puts her on his back. Eiko is barely able to keep her consciousness as she watches this guardian angel of sorts fight against this golem. The man charges at the golem that quickly regenerates its arm, but it's slightly smaller than before. The man charges past the golem faster than it could perceive, quickly, he sends a surge of lighting from his palms to the blade of his sword. The lighting is yellow and the man yells “Static Wave!” He swings the sword and the lightning launches off the sword in a wave of lightning towards the golem. The golem quickly makes half a wall of rocks blocking the attack. Then it stomps, shaking the ground where the man stands with Eiko on his back getting woozy. He jumps towards one of the trees and uses it to propel himself towards the beast, slashing the right arm off of the war machine once more. It regenerates the arm again, but once more it's smaller than before.
A lightbulb begins to click in his head, He then ducks the boulders the golem launches at him and slashes at its head. It uses its left arm to block him from hitting its head. It then uses the momentum from him jumping at it and pushes its arm upwards with a high amount of force. Launching the man and Eiko upward. This maneuver allows him to yell “Static WAVE!” as he launches another wave of electricity at it right before he blasts off. This attack sends him further in the air but it also blasts the golem's left arm off. It quickly attempts to regenerate that arm but before the rocks could even reattach, the man uses his and Eiko’s weight combined to force himself back downwards. Falling, the man puts a huge output of lightning into the tip of his sword. He crashes on top of the golem slicing it in the middle of its head, straight on the top.
He lands right on top of the golem's head, with his sword implanted. This attack completely immobilizes the golem for around 10 seconds. “I’ve figured out how you work without even battling you for that long.” The man laughs and says “You can regenerate but smaller than BEFORE!” As he says this, he pulls his sword out of its skull, backflips off of its head, and then slams his foot into the golem's face with a kick, launching its head off into a tree. Its body falls over limp, the man decides to take the problem into his own hands, literally. He charges electricity into his fist which is covered by a leather arm guard with brass knuckles at the top. He slams his fist into the chest of the robot and shattered its core, shutting down the war machine for good. As this happens, Eiko passes out. All of this fighting and jumping has drained her of her energy.
About 2 hours later, Eiko wakes up with a throbbing headache and her body is in agony. She realizes she's in a pretty beat-up purple sleeping bag. She looks around without getting out of the sleeping bag and sees a table that seems to be broken and held together with some duct tape, a few papers on it she can't seem to read from that angle, a few potions on a table that seem to be a mix of a bunch of different colors, a beat-up wooden sword, some bandages, and some arrows. Eiko stands up and sees her legs and arms wrapped in bandages, as she tries to walk she feels a sharp pain through her entire body. “However long I was out for clearly wasn’t enough..” She thinks to herself as stumbles. “But sleeping all day has its consequences…” She continues to walk out of this strange tent. Looking for whoever brought her here.
Eventually, she manages to walk out of the tent, She sees the same person in rags and a mask fighting against some type of training mannequin or dummy. She looks around and sees that she's still in the forest but it seems to be night time with a full moon in the sky. The surrounding trees seem familiar to her and in the distance, she even sees a very old tree with yellow leaves on it that she seems to recognize. It contrasts with the rest of the forest with its very bright dark greenish color. She looks back at the man in rags, He's practicing doing a backflip off of its… shoulder? As he hears the tent, he turns his head quickly. “Oh, it's you. I thought someone was going in the tent.” Eiko looks at the man, surprised he turned around so suddenly. “You can walk? Those injuries looked pretty severe, I’m surprised you could even stand on your own 2 feet.” The man remarks in genuine curiosity, Eiko looks at him and says “I may be a princess but I'm stronger than you think.” The man just stares at her and chuckles “Ok sure. Well, Princess, What were you doing out in the forest so late? Don't you royals have bodyguards or something?” “I should be the one asking questions here! Who are you?”
The man turns back towards Eiko and says “Are you in any position to be asking questions here? I asked first, So you answer me.” “I asked you second, and 2 is more than one, so there,” Eiko says with a smug look on her face like she got checkmate in a perfectly played game of chess. “Is this bitch serious?” He thinks to himself, “Fine. I’ll answer.” Eiko smiles to herself “Works every time” She remembers when she used to use this same excuse against her brothers. “I am, the Phantom.” He says with a dramatic pause, Eiko is looking at him with a confused expression. “Who?” Eiko says with no idea what to make of this information. “Did I get kidnapped by a psychopathic cosplayer?” She thinks to herself as the man speaks again. “Phantom? Khourburgs most wanted? Half soul savior? Does it ring a bell?” “Never heard of you in my life.” The man looks back at Eiko. “B- But I even said when I saved you?? Phantom in the night?? ANYTHING?” “Nada. Never heard of you. I just thought you were being cool, I didn’t think that was your name.” Phantom slaps his mask and murmurs to himself “And here I thought I was the most wanted…”
“So uh, Mr. Phantom. You said something about being the most wanted. What's that for?” “I'm known as the Half Soul Savior. I'm more so a person that the royal knights of dynasty don't seem to like because I'm always interfering with their missions. I just get my missions done and head out but I’ve been framed with a bunch of things that aren’t true.” Eiko is taken aback by this but she kind of believes the Phantom, he seems to be somewhat kindhearted and not some ruthless murderer because at least he saved her. She also gets interested in hearing about the royal knights of dynasty. She remembers how her brother Fafnir would always talk about joining them one day when they were kids.
“What's up with these royal knights?” Eiko asks. “Damn you really are sheltered aren’t ya, Mrs Princess.” He snarkily laughs as he explains, somewhat annoying Eiko with his comment. “The Royal Knights of Dynasty. The Khourburg Dynasties' main defense force. They get sent out to solve different problems and issues around the country, but the whole system is corrupt. Even the current king led an invasion that led to the deaths of millions of innocent people in another kingdom.” As he says this Eiko can tell it kinda bothers the Phantom as the tone in his voice becomes more serious. “They silence anybody who could speak up against them. That's why I'm framed as a criminal. Causing problems and destruction and blaming it on me, even when I'm not in the area.” The Phantom walks past Eiko and goes into the tent, He pulls one of the papers off a table and walks out. He shows her the paper. It's a bounty.
Half Soul Savior
Phantom
Wanted: Dead
Bounty: 300,000,000 Million Gold
“They want me gone. Am I innocent, No. I’ve taken a few lives but because I’m the biggest threat around, They’re trying to do anything to get me dead. That's one of the reasons the Emperor wants to make allies with the Cavindines I'm assuming. The previous one was killed by Emperor Fafnir. Now, the family of assassins is out of the throne.” This news makes something click in Eiko’s brain that she didn’t even comprehend. “So that's why..” She thinks to herself as the Phantom keeps speaking “They haven’t worked together since. If they want me dead, a family of assassins are the perfect people to do it.” Eiko looks at the man with intrigue. “So that is the only reason they want you gone?” The Phantom hesitates but then says “Yeah. From my knowledge at least, Now that I answered you, I want an answer to my question.” Phantom takes a seat on a log and Eiko sits beside him, Frankly getting tired of just standing.
“Well me, I’m the daughter of Vega and Devard Alphonia.” At these words, "Something changes in the Phantom's head “she's an Alphonia… Can I trust her… Man, what was I thinking” He thinks to himself, bashing himself, realizing his mistake of being TOO open for once. “They’re trying to marry me off to the Cavindice family for the “GoOd Of ThE kInGdOm.” They’re basically using me like a prize to build bridges in between. Like I'm not my own person trying to live my own life… It's just not fair…” The Phantom pats Eiko’s back and he looks at her, She's tearing up just talking about it. “It's like my life is over. I'm forever cursed to be stuck living in royalty when I just wanna live my life, adventure, find love, and do something with myself rather than living off something someone else built. Build something for myself for once.” Phantom pats Eiko’s back as she continues to say “I came out here before my wedding tomorrow. The preparations are all set up, So I'm assuming this is my last day before I get forced into marriage… I wanted to go to stardust road, Just for some memories of a place I used to go with my brother. One last time.”
The Phantom sits silent. “I can see where you’re coming from and how that makes you feel. Since it's already a full moon, Do you wanna head to Stardust Road right now? It's a full moon after all.`` Eiko has a shocked expression which soon turns into a big smile. “Really? Do you know where it is?? I kinda got lost before..” “Yeah that's why I'm out here. I got a mission from my sponsor.” “You have a sponsor?” “Yeah, In exchange for doing tasks and missions for her, She gives me info on the knights and a place to stay.”
Eiko feels somewhat relieved that this man isn’t dealing with this all by himself. “I have to head there to find the group of Tritons in the sea, Apparently it owes her some money.” “There's Tritons in the sea?” Eiko asks confused, “I thought Khourburg was the one country that didn’t have any mythical creatures in it?” “Well a couple of villages exist where these different races reside, This sea is one of them. I'm surprised they migrated all the way from the seas of Avolisia.” The 2 get up and begin to walk toward the sea. Eiko feels safe around the Phantom, she doesn’t really understand why herself but something about him makes her feel protected. Before leaving, the Phantom quickly grabbed his sword. It's a sword with a dragon for the hilt of the blade. Eiko remembers seeing the Phantom use this sword and some lightning when he was fighting the Golem. “Soooo, You use thunder magic huh?” Eiko asks curiously. “Yeah. I don’t have much Soul Energy, not really sure what happened when I was born but I was born with a lot of mana rather than Soul Energy. Most people aren’t even born with Mana, it generates later in life, So the fact I was born without a lot of my Soul is a rare case.”
“From what I remember, The smaller the soul the more mana right?” “Exactly. So the fact I lack Soul Energy means I have high outputs of mana. Despite that, I picked lightning magic to specialize in even though the more mana I have, the more detrimental.” Eiko looks confused at these words “What do ya mean?” The Phantom pulls the sword from his back to show Eiko an example. “When humans finally generate Mana, it can adapt to whatever the user chooses to train their body and mana in. Out of all 6 types, I chose Thunder magic. The difference between thunder magic and all the other types is that the more mana you have, the weaker your actual lightning is.” Eiko looks confused at this so Phantom continues, “It's all determined by the color. For example, I have yellow lightning, the weakest kind because people with more mana can use higher outputs of it, which keeps it on par with the rest. It's also the easiest form to control.” Phantom sparks lightning through his blade and Eiko sees it's a yellow color.
“What are the different colors?” “Well, that's simple. Yellow, then Blue, then White, then Black. This also ranks them in terms of skill to wield. They say users of Black magic have the potential to be kings and queens.” Eiko becomes more interested to learn about the other kinds of magic, but she decides to save that topic for another time. “Oh, interesting! I learned about some magic stuff reading books as a kid that my assistant Winston would let me borrow!” “You royalty really have your own individual personal assistants huh? I thought that was just a myth. I didn’t think you guys actually had those.” Eiko laughs “Welllll It’s mainly because my family helped out another, more poor family all those years ago. Apparently, the family split up, but half in my mansion chose to still work for us while the other half chose to separate from the past.”
“Oh interesting,” The Phantom says interested in this “So they’re paying off a lifelong favor huh?” “Pretty much. I can understand both sides though, wanting to repay the favor but also wanting to live your own life separate from the deeds of the past.” “So this Winston guy, What's he like? He's your personal butler so I’d expect you to know about him.” “Well, Winstons my personal assistant but basically my best friend. He's always there for me, giving me good advice.” Talking about Winston makes Eiko smile without even realizing and Phantom notices this face but chooses not to say anything.
“I can understand that feeling, it reminds me of how I used to view my Dad. He probably enjoys it, that might be why he's staying rather than paying off the debt of his ancestors. Never doubt for a second that he loves ya.” “Yeah, They’ve been with my family for a pretty long time so I'm kind of used to it, I tried to learn how to do some stuff for myself though. I didn’t wanna be completely useless. I had fun doing that as a kid.” “What did ya do for fun as a kid?” Eiko tries to think back to some of her core memories as a kid. “I used to read a LOT of books that my dad would find for me. I used to play outside with my brothers, Play toys, In Fact, we even had this entire series where we’d make our own storylines. It was fun, that's kind of what got my little brother Solomon into wanting to write stories.” “Oh that's cool, I heard royals also have really long names, Is that true?”
“Don't even get me STARTED.” The Phantom snickers at her comment, She continues saying “My name was GOING to be Alexandria Nora Alphonia.” The Phantom can't help but laugh at this absurdly long name “You’re kidding right?” “I'M SO SERIOUS! My mom had to convince my dad to shorten it to just Elanora.” “Well, that name is just kinda ugly.” “THAT'S WHAT I'M SAYING!! But my dad also gets mad when I make the servants just call me Eiko. I should AcCePt My HeRiTaGe.” “What's up with Eiko? Elanora and Eiko just start with the same letter, where did Eiko come from?” “Middle name.” “Ooooh Ok.”
“Anyway, Since you asked me questions, It's my turn to learn a little about YOU! What was your childhood like? You know a bit about mine.” Phantom goes silent for a few seconds and then begins to speak “My childhood was fun. I enjoyed my life, I had a dad, 2 best friends, and basically, everything I could ever want. I’d still spend my days training to be a Royal Knight, But I was happy.” “That sounds like a fun childhood” Eiko has a gut feeling that this is only the beginning of the story, but right as her mind goes through that thought, the duo appears right at Stardust Road. Eiko takes a seat at the right spot and Phantom follows, sitting beside her. They sit, trees behind them blowing in the wind as the grass whistles beside them. The moonlight reflects off the water's surface, creating a shimmering curtain of silvery light that seems to come alive with each passing moment. The ocean's steady current gives rise to a gentle lapping sound, adding to the overall hypnotic quality of the scene.
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For a second, the air is still and quiet, as if holding its breath, and it seems as if time itself has slowed down. The ocean looks like a mirror, reflecting the silvery moonlight back up to the sky. The only movement is the gentle undulation of the water, like the breath that animates this tranquil scene. It's as if the whole world has been reduced to this one beautiful moment, a fleeting dream come alive. The waves splash like music as the 2 sit together watching this scene. Eiko begins to cry a bit, remembering a simpler time. A time when she used to think she had her whole life ahead of her, a time when she felt genuinely happy. “Eiko.” The Phantom says breaking her streak of sobs. She looks at the Phantom, He sees genuine sadness and sheer passion to escape her imminent future. For once in his life, for the first time in years, he forgot about his own problems. The Phantom pulls his mask off while looking at Eiko, revealing a boy that doesn’t seem much older than her. He has short, yet spikey blonde hair with fair skin. His eyes seem baggy, like he's tired with a stoic yet sympathetic expression on his face. “Come with me. You don’t need to stay back here.”
Eiko is taken aback by his suggestion. She's not sure how to feel. Abandon her family? Her parents, her brothers, and even Winston for something so selfish? “I- I don’t know... I want to escape but I’m not sure.. What about the consequences of that? How would the world react to a princess going missing?” “I’m not sure of the consequences or the effect that would have on your family, but I would regret it for the rest of my life If I didn’t at least make the offer. So, Think about it. Ok?” The Phantom touches her hand when he says this and she feels something. She can't describe it but it's like her stomach is doing backflips on its side. It's like the books she read before but she can only really describe it as butterflies.
“I-” Right before she continues to speak a huge wave jumps from the sea in front of the 2. The Phantom quickly pulls his mask back on and grabs Eiko into his arms to dodge the wave. He bolts to the left, swiftly dodging this wave of water that freezes over into spikes of ice on the ground beside them. “W- What?” Eiko stammers blushing while in the Phantom's arms. She's not sure if she should be focusing on this or the wave of water that just attacked them. “Tritons.” He says and then puts her down. “I thought you came to get some money??” “That money I came to get is 2000 gold they stole from her. She would’ve come to do it herself but she has other matters to worry about. All these people know is, they see the Phantom, they fight.”
A Triton jumps out. “Leave now, Phantom. We have no problems, if you came for Rika’s money then you’re asking for an early death.” Phantom sighs and puts down Eiko. “I’m a simple man, I get a job and I get that job done.” The Triton is a vibrant turquoise color with yellow eyes that glow in the darkness. He has gills and fins, with plate armor that consists of interlocking steel plates that are strapped to his body. The plate armor provides a high level of protection while still allowing the Tritons to move relatively freely. The Triton, fittingly wields a trident.
“It's a shame. I’d expect a little more independence for a person of your stature.” The triton says, Phantom shrugs “Never meet your idols.” “Who are you?” Eiko says, looking at the aquatic creature. “I am Maris, leader of my tribe.” Maris looks at Eiko and then looks back at the Phantom. “Just bring back what you stole and we have no problems, Maris. I’m not even really sure what you need that gold for.” “Why should I explain myself to you? You’re a criminal yourself, You should understand.”
“Eiko, do you think you’re healed enough to fight?” The Phantom looks back at Eiko, concerned for her. She attempts to stand up to fight but her leg cramps and she falls over. “Very well.” He claps his hands together and launches a wave of electricity at Eiko. Covering her body with an electric cage to keep her out of the battle. Maris charges at the Phantom. The Phantom dodges the attack by jumping to the side and then swings his sword downwards toward the top of Marin’s head. Marin pushes water down from his hands, which propels him upwards and the water turns into ice about 4 seconds after. The Phantom begins to quickly dash up the wall of ice that Marin left behind. Marin launches droplets of water at phantoms that move at bullet speeds. Phantom quickly dodges 3 of the bullets but right as he reaches the top of the wall of ice, one of them strikes his knee, turning into Ice on contact with his clothes, Piercing through it and making a cut on his skin.
The Phantom slips off the wall of ice after being hit with this bullet, heading towards the ground. As Marin begins to fall from the momentum of when he propelled himself upwards, he spins the Trident in his hands, covering it in water. He uses the momentum from his fall to power up his strike, he falls and swings the Trident but Phantom blocks it with his sword. On contact, Ice freezes over the sword's blade but he sends a surge of electricity through the blade to destroy the Ice that froze over the blade. The 2 of them crash to the ground, both quickly stand but Marin stands up a split second early. Marin swings his trident towards Phantom, But Phantom yells “Voltic DISCHARGE!” At this, a bunch of electricity surrounds Phantom's body and his sword, it moves very chaotic as if he's just outputting energy. This catches Marin off guard and he gets hit by this wave of energy, his body has a strange tingly sensation throughout causing him a bunch of pain. While he's off guard, Phantom disarms him with his sword, jumps up, and kicks his face to the left. Marin crashes to the ground and while Phantom is still in the air from his kick, he spins and launches a static wave at Marin. Blasting him backward into the wall of ice he made previously, destroying it. The shards of ice begin to fall and Marin quickly gets back up barely dodging them.
Marin uses his mana to pull his Trident back into his hands. Phantom appears behind him, Slashing at Marin’s neck. Marin ducks and punches Phantom in his stomach. “How’d he see me coming?!” Phantom thinks to himself but he remembers a fight with a previous Triton he’s had, which he inferred they have advanced hearing of sorts. Marin takes the second while Phantom is off guard to launch waves of water toward his legs. It connects, including Phantom’s legs in a wave of Ice, Leaving him unable to move. Eiko, Watching the battle realizes what could happen next. So she chooses to quickly force herself up and uses her Ice magic to block Phantom from getting struck by his trident. Eikos prediction was correct, as Marin attempts to strike Phantom right in his head with his trident. This attack is blocked by her wall of ice which makes Phantom snap back into the battle.
Marin looks over at Eiko, Launching a wave of Water toward her. She quickly tries to block the attack with her own ice. Once the water makes contact with the Ice, It actually transforms INTO ice, piercing through Eiko’s barrier with Ice with Icicles that almost pierce her body. She falls back just in time and doesn’t get hit. Before Marin could continue, Phantom slashes through the wall of Ice in front of him, With a sword completely covered in lightning, taking the opportunity he was distracted with Eiko to charge his attack. Slashing through the Ice also propels his hypercharged, Blue Static wave at Marin. This attack launches him right back into the water he came from. But Phantom isn’t done, He quickly channels his mana into his lungs, holds his breath, and jumps into the ocean after Marin.
He begins to swim and slashes his sword down through the water. But since they’re underwater, It moves slower than normal allowing Marin to block this attack by grabbing the sword while its momentum is still slow. Marin immediately freezes over the blade and also covers Phantom's hands. “Following me will be your last mistake.” Marin then puts a bunch of mana into the Ice, Making it implode, and launches Phantom upwards out of the water. Eiko watches Phantom rise from the water, lining up perfectly with the moon in the sky and stardust road, She also sees Marin jump up out of the water with his entire leg in the air, slamming it down onto the Phantom's back slamming him back into the water. Waves splash onto the shore and a little on Eiko’s face.
Phantom took the opportunity in the air to consume more air before getting blasted right back into the water. Phantom was able to take most of the attack but the pressure from getting launched upwards from that exploding ice attack, combined with getting thrown in the air and slammed back onto the water felt like a bomb exploded on his back. The force is getting somewhat overwhelming but he manages to keep the air in his mouth and uses the mana in his lungs to keep that air he consumes steady. Phantom turns and sees Marin swimming towards him, He chooses to avoid using his electricity. Feeling like it could have a negative effect on his surroundings and his body since everything is water. Marin thrusts his spear towards the Phantom, who blocks it but then gets 2 feet slammed on his stomach. Propelling both of them downwards.
Phantom doesn't know how long he can keep the air in his mouth, thinking to himself “I have to find a way to end this quickly. The entire surrounding area is his playground.” Something clicks in The Phantom's head and he comes up with an idea and decides to shoot his shot one more time. He grabs Marin's legs, and channels electricity into them. “What are you-” Marin begins to try to shake off Phantom's hands. Once that doesn’t work, he uses his mana to call back his trident while Phantom's back is turned to it, attempting to pierce his skull. Phantom releases the electricity he charges through Marin's legs, Which shoots him upwards like a rocket through the water. Phantom spins around and grabs the Trident that almost pierces his flesh. He uses this trident, spins around with it charging electricity into the tip, and throws it in the same direction Marin is going. He puts an output of electricity in his feet to quickly spin upward, this harms Phantom since his body is completely covered in water, It works and he sends himself up out of the water.
Marin is LAUNCHED out of the water, the same way Phantom was, right in front of the moon. He feels his trident coming out of the water and quickly grabs it before it could stab him. But grabbing the trident actually shocks Marin from the electricity charged through it. While caught off guard by this, Phantom ascends from the water. The Phantom slashes Marin through his chest plate, making a clean cut through the metal right onto his skin. He grabs Triton's face and throws him onto the shore. Phantom falls back into the water but quickly swims back out. Marin lies face first in the shards of his broken Ice from his previous attacks. Phantom walks up to Marin, pulling him towards him. “Where is the gold?” Phantom asks while having his sword next to his neck. “I’m not dumb. Give me a genuine answer, Now.” “I don’t have it. I used it to pay off some debt I owed to someone else.” “Who did you owe this debt to?” “A guy named Keen. he lives in the capital of north Khourburg, Kelbath.” Phantom throws Marin into the water. “You’re lucky I believe you.” Marin pulls his trident back to him using his Mana and swims underwater.
Phantom's attention turns to Eiko, who’s sitting on the floor drenched in water. He runs towards her “Did he hurt you?” “N- No... He almost hit me with his Icicle thing.” Phantom picks up Eiko in his arms and begins to walk back towards the campsite. Eiko doesn’t want to admit it, but that battle gave her a thrill. A thrill she's never felt before, It confuses her but something about watching that battle sparked a feeling in her she's never experienced before. “If I come with you, How often will stuff like that happen?” Phantom looks down at her “Pretty often. Almost all the time If you want me to be fully honest. Not sure if that's the life you want to live. I’m telling you, Fighting like that becomes very stressful and I’m not sure if you’re ready for that.” Eiko thinks for a second “Is this how I want to live?” She doesn’t speak until they eventually head back to the campsite. He puts her down on a log where she sits as he makes a call. He clicks something on his arm and a holographic screen appears.
“What's that?” Eiko asks, never seeing such a high-tech device before. “It's how I keep in contact with my sponsor, It's sonar. You can call people, play games, take photos, and do a bunch of other things. Mine was made for me by the Spirefordge kingdom. It's where most high-tech things come from that you don't see around here.” The sonar produces a purple esc screen, Phantom begins to tap his wrist as Eiko sees a bunch of caller logs, until he eventually hits one with the name “Rika” on it. The sonar rings, making a buzzing sound as Phantom stands there waiting for this person to pick up.
“Hey, hey, HEY!” A cheerful voice comes from the other side. The sonar produces a holographic video that both Eiko and Phantom see. It's a girl with black hair and purple highlights near the bottom. She seems to be in her mid to late twenties. The woman wears a gray hoodie with a purple pattern that resembles a hoodie but she's not wearing it right, with her shoulders exposed. She wears a black shirt with a long collar yet lacks sleeves. “You get my gold back?” The woman types looking away from the screen. “No, But I know who has it.” “I thought Marin had it? He's the one who robbed me when I gave him a place to stay.” “Well he stole it but he used it to pay back debt.”
“Who’d the little rat give it to?” The woman remarks still typing away on a computer to the side. “Some guy named Keen. Apparently, he lives in Kelbath, the capital of north Khourburg.” The woman looks at the screen showing her green eyes to the camera “Wait a minute, Isn’t he the one from the mission you had to do with Flint a few years ago? The kid you told me about.” “Doesn’t ring a bell. I go on missions every week, I don't remember everyone I meet.” The woman sighs “You don't remember ANYTHING. Just go find the kid and get my money back, I’ll double your pay.” The Phantom looks at Eiko who's sitting there, enjoying the conversation. “Anything else ya needa ask me?” “No. Not right now at least.” “Alright have a good one kid, Make sure you get to Kelbath in 5 days tops.” The woman then hangs up and The Phantom looks at Eiko.
“Who was she?” Eiko asks curiously. “Just my sponsor, Rika. She took me in and I’ve been working for her for a couple of years. I told you about her earlier.” Eiko seems to remember the conversation they had previously. “Oh her!” “Yeah. But enough about that.” The Phantom sits down next to Eiko who looks up at the stars. “You need to make your choice, I can help you. All I need is your word.” Eiko sits for a second, contemplating her choices. “Life won't be easy on the road ya know, fights like before will happen constantly if you’re up for that. I’ll always be there to save you.”
Eiko looks at the Phantom and says “I…. I want you to save me. I don’t want to live my life trapped in that family forever. I want to be free, and if this is my only way to achieve that. Then I’ll do it.” Phantom nods at Eiko, “You want to come with me right now? I’m willing to take you right now.” “I can't… I have to get some things and say goodbye to someone…” “I understand. I might not be able to save you tonight then, but if you know the location of the wedding, please tell me. I’ll be out here all day tomorrow.” Eiko smiles at Phantom as he helps her up. She hugs him and he embraces her. “What's your name, Phantom?” Phantom hesitates for a second but then he responds “Roy.” Eiko smiles and then gets out of the hug, “I’ll be seeing you then, Roy!” She begins to walk back through the forest but the Phantom says “I can’t just let you go alone.” “No, it's fine. I should know my way back, I recognize this spot. If you come too close to the castle it could ruin everything, So I’ll head back home.” Eiko waves at the Phantom and turns away.
As Eiko walks back home, her mind is filled with memories of the previous night's events. She has never seen such violence before, and she wonders if she is truly capable of becoming a hero like Phantom. Despite her doubts, she is determined to find a way to escape her family and live a life of her own. As Eiko walks through the forest, she notices the change in scenery. The bright moonlight illuminates the tall trees, casting eerie shadows on the ground. She walks past dark caves and rocky outcrops, the sounds of the forest echoing in the distance. Despite the beauty of the night, Eiko feels an undercurrent of fear in the air.
As she walks through the forest, Eiko takes in the surrounding nature. The trees are tall and strong, their branches reaching out to the sky. The air is fresh and cool, and the sounds of animals can be heard in the distance. She sees a stream nearby and stops for a moment to drink some water. It's cool and refreshing, and the sound of it flowing brings her peace.
She thinks about the challenges she will face on the road, but she also feels a sense of excitement and possibility. She has spent so long dreaming of a life outside of her family's control, and now that dream is finally becoming a reality. She has a long journey ahead of her with the Phantom, but she is confident that she can handle anything that comes her way. She has a new life to look forward to, filled with adventure and potential.
As she approaches the castle, Eiko's heart races with fear. She knows what is waiting for her there - pressure to conform to her family's wishes, an arranged marriage to a man she does not love. But she also knows that Phantom has offered her a chance at a different life, a life where she can be her own person. Eiko reaches the edge of the castle grounds and stops for a moment. She looks up at the castle, with its imposing walls and turrets, lit up by the torches of the guards. She takes a deep breath and runs towards her bedroom window. She uses her ice to build a stairway toward the window she escaped from. She quickly jumps back into the room.
Her bedroom is dark and cold. The sense of fear she had amplifies as she searches for her bedroom light. She quickly turns the light on and turns her head. A chill runs down her body once she turns around and recognizes the person behind her. “Riley?!” “Eiko.” Riley looks Eiko in her eyes as the 2 of them stare each other down. Eiko has a feeling deep in her gut that this can’t be good….